Broken
by Tw33ty JR
Summary: She just wanted to be a normal teenage girl going to a normal high school but that was too much to ask; He just wanted to keep his family safe but, of course, there has to be complications... AU -Rating changed to M for language-
1. Chapter 1

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Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

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Hinata, who someone could describe as calm, gentle, kind, caring…the list could go on, was anything but those things at the moment.

"You baka!" she cried, hitting her companion on the head rather violently, currently showing no value in their lives considering they were moving pretty fast on a motorcycle.

Many people would describe her companion, known as Sabaku no Gaara, as cold, calm, distant, as well as scary, emotionless, even evil.

Right now he was just feeling annoyed as the hit to his head caused him to swerve in the opposite lane. An oncoming car blared its horn as he quickly returned to the correct lane.

"You know," Gaara stated calmly as if they weren't almost in an accident, "trying to get us killed isn't gonna make us get to school any faster."

"Well, if you had let Temari-chan handle the situation, we wouldn't have this problem!" Hinata tightened her grip around Gaara's waist and buried her face in his back.

He sighed as he turned into the Kohonagakure High School Academy (Konoha High for short) parking lot, slowing down and finally coming to a stop.

Gaara was about to turn around, only to freeze as he watched a blue blur fly past the bike.

Hinata turned her head, though she didn't stop running towards the school. "Come on, Gaara-kun!" She yelled, "The bell already rang!"

Gaara smirked as he walked after her. Seriously, how could someone be so excited about school? But that was Hinata for you.

* * *

Uchiha Sasuke growled in aggravation as he walked down the hallway towards his homeroom. He was late…again. He really needed a new alarm clock…or maybe he should stop spending so much time in the –

Sasuke was cut off from his thoughts when he was roughly pushed in the shoulder by a blue blur.

"Sorry!" it yelled as it turned the corner of the hallway, disappearing from his view.

"Che," Sasuke grumbled as he turned in the opposite direction and headed towards the first door on his right.

When he opened the door, Sasuke had to physically restrain himself from slapping his forehead. He could have been half an hour late and he still would have been early!

"Hi Sasuke-kun!"

"Sasuke-kun!"

"Sit next to me, Sasuke-kun!"

"No, me!"

"He doesn't want to sit next to a whore!"

"Who are you calling a whore, slut!"

"You, bitch!"

The person of topic just sighed and walked towards the back of the room where his 'friends' were.

Towards the back was his 'best friend', Uzumaki Naruto. He was sitting on top of a desk, wearing black jeans and an orange hoodie. He was currently talking with another of his friends, Nara Shikamaru. Well, it was more of a one-sided conversation, considering Shikamaru had his head down and his eyes closed…and he wasn't responding.

Sasuke finally reached the back, pushed Naruto of the top of his desk and proceeded to sit down. Ignoring the curses coming from said blonde, he took a page from Shikamaru's book and closed his eyes as he leaned his head back.

"Hey, teme!" Naruto growled in his throat when he noticed that Sasuke was purposefully ignoring him. He kicked his leg out to try to get Sasuke to slide down, only to be blocked. Deep blue met glaring onyx.

"What?" Sasuke asked, annoyed.

Naruto ignored the tone. "Did you hear anything about the new students?"

"Don't know. Don't care."

"Oh, come on," the blonde whined. "You got to at least be curious. It's a guy and a girl." He smiled mischievously as he leaned forward, pretending it was top secret, "and I heard that the girl is pretty hot." Naruto laughed when he was roughly pushed back.

"Dobe, I don't give a -,"

"Good morning, class," a smooth voice rang out, silencing the students and making them unconsciously head toward their assigned seats. "Sorry I'm late. A black cat crossed my path so to avoid bad luck, I took the long way here." The teacher had gray-spiked hair (though he appeared to be in late twenties) that defied gravity and mismatched eyes, one a deep grey and the other a piercing red with a scar going right through it ("A birth defect," he says). The weirdest thing about him, however, was the fact that half his face was covered, always.

"You're such a fuckin' liar, Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto shouted.

"Language, Naruto-kun," Kakashi stated, not even looking in his direction. "One week detention."

"Aw, damn it!"

"Two weeks."

Sasuke smirked. "Tch, idiot."

Naruto frowned. "Shut up, teme. I bet by the end of the day, you'll be joining me."

"Hn."

Kakashi looked at his attendance sheet and then looked up. "Well, my precious class, it seems that we have two more students." He looked around the classroom and shrugged. "Hmmm…they're not – . Ah, there you are. I thought there were two of you…oh well, go ahead and introduce -.

"Wait," a deep voice interrupted, "You didn't see anyone else come in here?"

"No, but -," Kakashi stared at the empty doorway. He looked at his class to see them looking as bewildered as he felt.

Then all hell broke loose. Girls were squealing and laughing about how mysterious and handsome the new student was, while the boys seethed in envy. School just began and the new kid was already skipping classes.

Naruto smiled carelessly but his bright eyes were unusually sharp. He turned towards Sasuke and Shikamaru.

Sasuke had sat straight up when he laid eyes on the new student. His face was blank but his hands were clenched around his desk, his knuckles white from gripping it so hard.

Shikamaru was awake. That in itself was enough to alarm them. He always slept (or at least pretended to) through Kakashi's class, seeing as the laid-back teacher let them run wild while he read his soft-porn.

The three boys shared a look before turning their heads back to the doorway with one thought running through each of their minds.

_I've seen him before._

* * *

(Meanwhile)

_I'm so late! I'm so late! I'm so late!_

That was the thought replaying through Hinata's mind as she hopelessly tried to find her homeroom class. _I wonder if I turned the right way…the number is – ah! Here it is._

"208," she huffed as she turned the doorknob and entered the classroom. "Sorry I'm late, sen-," Hinata stopped mid-sentence when she looked around the classroom, "-sei?"

Was it her or did her fellow students look a couple years younger? Well, she was sixteen...maybe they put her in the wrong class accidentally.

"-help you? Excuse me?"

Hinata blinked to see the teacher (and the students) staring at her. She flushed deeply. "I-I'm sorry, sensei. Can you repeat that?"

The man looked to be in his mid-twenties with a noticeable scar across the bridge of his nose and warm brown eyes. His smile seemed friendly, though at the moment, it was more sheepish than anything.

"I asked if you needed any help. You seem lost."

Hinata blinked and then blinked again before turning an interesting shade of red.

"A-ano…" the bluenette stammered, suddenly shy, "You wouldn't, by any chance, be…" she looked down at her crumpled schedule. "Kakashi-sensei, would you?"

Her eyes widened when she heard snickers coming from the students. The teacher sent them a stern glare before turning back to Hinata. He smiled kindly. "I'm sorry, I'm Iruka-sensei and this is the freshmen homeroom."

"…"

Iruka frowned slightly. He was starting to get a little worried with the way the young woman was just staring blankly at him.

Hinata felt like she was going to black out at any moment. _Man, this was so embarrassing!_ About to comply with her body, she felt a strong arm wrap around her waist pulling her towards a hard chest. Still a little dizzy, she looked up to see her savior…looking very amused. She sighed. He wasn't going to let her live this one down.

"Ano…"

Both Hinata and Gaara looked at Iruka. "Do you know him…?"

Oh! "Hinata, Iruka-sensei," She bowed briefly. "And yes, this is Gaara; we're the new students here."

Iruka looked towards Gaara meeting intense aquamarine.

"Well," he appeared a little startled, "I can show you where the class is, if you like -,"

"That's alright," Gaara interrupted. He ignored the way the girls gasped at his voice. "I know where it's at."

Hinata flushed at hearing the amusing and smug tone and let herself be lead away.

"Ano, it was nice meeting you, Iruka-sensei," she murmured before the door shut completely. Iruka stared at the door before returning back to his class. Well, that was interesting.

Hinata buried her head in her hands as she let Gaara lead her to the correct classroom. _That was so humiliating!_

"Stop laughing," she whined.

Gaara smirked. "I wasn't laughing."

"Not out loud."

The red head stopped walking and turned towards her. He gently pushed her against the wall of the school's hallway and blocked her with his body.

"G-Gaara, what are -?"

He laid his forehead against Hinata's. Aquamarine caught lavender. "You sure you want to do this?"

"We already talked about this."

Hands grabbed her waist and squeezed. Not enough to hurt but enough to keep her still.

"Listen, _muzai_," She froze. "I saw someone that's making me question our decision."

Hinata closed her eyes. He hasn't been this tense in a while. She was so tired of this. She just wanted to be a teenage girl going to high school. She just wanted to be normal. The bluenette opened her eyes and looked into Gaara's. As much as she wanted that, she didn't regret anything.

"Who?" she asked.

"Uchiha Sasuke." She looked up quickly. She didn't remember much except that he was bad news. No, she didn't remember but she had heard things about Uchiha Sasuke.

"Just promise me," he murmured, bringing her out of her thoughts, "that you'll be careful around him."

Hinata slid her arms around Gaara's neck, bringing him even closer. She stood on her toes to kiss his neck. Her waist was squeezed harder in response.

"I promise," she whispered.

Gaara stepped back, releasing her, but stayed close as they continued toward their homeroom class.

"And please," he turned his head in Hinata's direction and smirked. "Try to at least make friends with some girls."

Hinata pouted. "They never seem to like me or they're nice to me to get to you." She paused in thought, "I just realized that Temari-chan is my only female friend." She hung her head. "That's just sad. The rest are guys."

"Yeah, your 'friends' need to learn to keep their fucking hands to themselves."

The girl rolled her eyes. Here we go again. "They're my friends, who also know you. They know their limits."

She looked down at her schedule and then looked at the room they stopped in front of. "Is this the room?"

Gaara nodded, knowing she was purposefully changing the subject but let it slide. "You would have known that if you had slowed down and waited for me."

"You had already made us late!" was the retort.

The red head looked amused. "We're _really _late now. There's only about fifteen minutes of class left."

Hinata sighed. "Whatever, let's just get this over with."

She walked past Gaara and opened the door.

Once again, the class became silent as they curiously watched the new students walked through their classroom door. The mysterious boy was back and he seemed to have brought the other kid. As if the Hinata was the signal, boys immediately started wolf-whistling and making crude comments while most girls looked at her enviously, whispering loudly to each other.

"Ano," Hinata looked around the class. "They seem friendly."

Gaara chuckled softly before gently pushing her forward. "You wanted this."

Kakashi, finally tired of the noise, stood up. "Now, now, that's very rude. Let them introduce themselves." He gave the new students a one-eyed smile and extended his hand out as a greeting.

Sasuke, Naruto, and Shikamaru paid close attention. They needed to hear his name.

The girl stepped forward and bowed before speaking. "My name is Hinata and I just moved here from Suna."

The boy then stepped forward, lazily scanned the classroom and locked eyes with Sasuke. He casually leaned his head back, showing a bright red tattoo, love in kanji, on his forehead.

Sasuke's eyes widened. Naruto held back a curse. Shikamaru closed his eyes in concentration.

The red head couldn't help but smirk. "My name is Gaara and I just moved here from Suna."

The boys in the back locked eyes and immediately understood what each other were thinking.

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_His name is Sabaku no Gaara and he is the leader of Shukaku._

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muzai-innocence

Feedback would be wonderful, please!


	2. Chapter 2

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto._

AN/ Just wanted to thank **Nightbreeze of WindClan **&** Refrigerator-Burn** for reviewing! I truly appreciate it =)

Questions/

_Is Gaara Hinata's boyfriend? _Their relationship is...complicated.

_Are they living together with Temari?_ You'll find out soon.

_How old?_ Hinata -16; Gaara, Sai, Naruto,Shikamaru, Ino, Sakura, Chouji -17; Sasuke -18; Temari -21

_Where are their parents? _Will be revealed later on.

Well, I hope you enjoy this chapter...

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Sasuke couldn't believe this.

"What the hell is he doing here?" Naruto growled, voicing his thoughts.

Shikamaru opened his eyes but didn't speak. His deep brown eyes were following Hinata and Gaara's movements as they moved towards the back with the girl leading the way.

It seemed as though they were coming right towards them but at the last moment, Gaara grabbed her arm and maneuvered her in a different direction. The bluenette sent him a questioning look; he responded his answer quietly in her ear. She nodded, moving to the opposite side of the room and sat down with him sitting next to her.

"He knows who we are but I don't think the girl does," Shikamaru observed.

"That doesn't mean anything," Sasuke murmured. His onyx eyes were still watching them. "I haven't seen him in a while. He could have met her after."

Naruto who was unusually silent, decided to speak up, "Maybe, we should leave him be."

Sasuke snapped his head towards the unusually serious blonde and narrowed his eyes while Shikamaru shook his head with a muttered 'troublesome' under his breath.

Deep blue eyes closed and when they re-opened, frost had entered. "I'm serious. I don't think he wants to start any trouble, especially if he's trying to keep her out of it." He tilted his head towards the twosome. "Yes, he acknowledged us and made sure that we knew who he was but he walked away from us. He didn't approach us."

Sasuke nodded reluctantly. "But that doesn't answer the question. What is he doing here? How did he even get out! He is…was the leader."

Shikamaru sighed. "The only way to know is to ask. We have no choice but to approach him." He lazily turned his head towards the couple, though his eyes were calculating. "But I don't think he'll let us near her so we're gonna have to get him alone. No fighting."

He glared at Sasuke who just turned his head. "Tch."

"I'm serious, Sasuke. Out of all of us, you're the most eager to get some answers. Put your pride aside and don't start any bullshit."

"Whatever."

Shikamaru rolled his eyes and looked at Naruto. "When should we try to talk to him?"

Naruto opened his mouth when the bell rang. He quickly noticed that Gaara and Hinata had already made their exit. "Lunch," he stated as he grabbed his backpack and headed for the door. "Oh, and Sasuke?"

Sasuke paused then tensed when he met stunning blue ice. "Take Shikamaru's advice and try not to start any bullshit." It was said casually but Sasuke heard the steel underneath. All he could do was nod and breathe when Naruto disappeared through the doorway.

He shook his head in disgust. There were times where he felt like he didn't know the blonde at all. One minute, he's an idiot and then the next, he's serious.

"Try not to push yourself, Uchiha." Shikamaru was still seated, seeing that his next class was in the same room, why even bother moving? He smiled without humor. "You're already on thin ice."

Onyx eyes glared at him. "I already know that," he snarled in response. His hand unconsciously rubbed his neck where his tattoo was.

Shikamaru didn't even flinch. "It's a verbal reminder. Remember your place before someone physically puts you there."

Sasuke just walked out the door ignoring the threat.

The lazy student sighed in irritation before closing his eyes for a short nap.

* * *

"Hinata, right?"

Said girl jumped around quickly only to come face to face with blonde hair, deep blue eyes, and an easy-going smile.

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you." He held up his hands in passive gesture and smiled again.

She backed up slightly and smiled shyly, "Hello."

"So no surname, huh? By the way I'm Uzumaki Naruto."

She frowned slightly. That wasn't any of his business. Plus, Gaara told her to be cautious of him too…him and the guy who had his hair in ponytail. "Well, it was nice meeting you, Naruto-san but I must get to my next class." The blue-haired shouldered her backpack and moved around him.

Naruto winced slightly. Okay, he really needed to learn when to keep his mouth shut. He followed after her.

"Look, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to offend you."

Hinata ignored him as she moved against the flow of traffic, though she was having a hard time…moving.

The blonde, used to it, caught up to her easily. He continued to move, grabbed her elbow, and pulled her out of the tide.

She blinked. "Ano…thanks. Now, if you'll excuse me -."

"What class are you going to?"

"Huh?"

Naruto smiled again. "I said 'What class are you going to?' I can point you in the right direction."

Hinata looked at him. He didn't seem _too_ bad; after all, he did help her. "Chemistry," she spoke when the school bell rang.

"That's just the warning bell," the blonde laughed when Hinata began to panic. "You're in luck because that is my next class and it's this way." He grabbed the girl by the shoulders and turned her in the opposite direction they were standing in.

"You were heading this way also."

"I was going after you to apologize. Sometimes my mouth just says things before my brain has a chance to process it." He laced his hands behind his head and smiled sheepishly. "I didn't mean to offend you."

No, he didn't seem bad at all. Hinata smiled. "That's alright."

"Ah, here it is. Ladies first." He bowed and extended his hand.

The bluenette giggled slightly as she walked past him through the door.

The room was set up like a lab. Chemicals on one side of the room and the equipment on the other side. There were about eight tables and two chairs to each table.

"You can sit next to me if you like," Naruto said. He walked towards the back where a few people were standing around and talking. There were two boys and two girls. The first boy was on the 'husky' side and long spiky brown hair going down his back. He had an open bag of chips in his hand. His attention was towards a girl with long blonde hair in a ponytail. She was wearing a pair of skinny jeans and a tank top that hugged her figure. Hinata couldn't see her face considering her back was turned. Standing next to her was the other girl. Hinata blinked at the pink hair but she couldn't say anything considering hers was naturally blue. The girl had bright green eyes and a nice smile. She had the body of a model and she wore it well. _She's beautiful_, was the absent thought. The second boy made her do a double take. Hinata sighed, no, that was not Sasuke although they did look similar. This boy had a smile though it seemed really fake. He was wearing really tight jeans and a body hugging shirt that only stopped midway. The bluenette tilted her head to the side in confusion. _Is that even allowed?_

She shrugged as she followed Naruto down the row. This was nice...maybe she could even become friends with the girls.

Naruto stood next to the pink-haired girl and threw his arm around his shoulder only to be punched to the ground. Hard.

Or not.

No one, except Hinata, was surprised when Naruto jumped back up with an easy smile on his face.

"Itai, Sakura-chan," he whined as he rubbed his face. "You didn't have to hit me that hard."

She just ignored him causing his head to drop in defeat.

Hinata blinked.

Snapping out of his depression, Naruto turned towards the rest of his friends. "Hey guys, this is Hinata, the new girl. Hinata-chan, the big guy is Chouji, the blonde is Ino, that bastard is Sai, and this is Sakura-chan."

Chouji smiled warmly at her before returning to his bag of chips.

Ino looked over her critically with her light blue eyes before squealing quite loudly. "Oh, you are so kawaii! We should hang out later. How old are you anyway? You look around fourteen although you are in our grade. Man, I wish I could pull that off! Is that your real eye color? They're beautiful! Do you -."

"Stop crowding, Ino-pig!" The pink-haired girl, Sakura, pushed her out of the way. "Sorry about that," she smiled widely, "Like the idiot said," "Hey!" "I'm Haruno Sakura. Welcome to Konoha High."

Hinata smiled shyly, "It's nice meeting you all."

"It was nice meeting you as well, Flat Chest."

The group turned to Sai in shock, while he just smiled his signature fake smile. Hinata looked down at her…sizable bust and then looked back at Sai. "Well, I've never been called that before."

"I have read in a book that in order to make bonds you must come up with a nickname for that person." He paused in thought while the others still seemed to be in some sort of shock since they haven't moved and their jaws were slightly agape. "Although Dickless and Ugly do not seem to like their names very much," he shrugged, "so I have decided to do the opposite of what I think, like what I did with Gorgeous. Considering your breast size is very -."

He was cut by a fist connected to an enraged Ino.

_So they are both violent._ Hinata mused with wide eyes as Sai hit the floor hard. He was out cold.

"Ano…" Naruto laughed nervously, warily eyeing the fuming Ino but talking to Hinata, "Don't take Sai too seriously. He's kind of socially reta-."

He was interrupted when someone loudly cleared their throat. The group slowly turned around to see that the teacher and half the class were staring at them.

"As entertaining as that was, I would like to start my class now," she smirked. "Take your seats. Akimichi lose the chips and Yamanaka take Sai to the nurse."

"But!"

"You knocked him out so you have the honors of taking him to the nurse."

Ino huffed angrily before roughly grabbing Sai's leg and dragging him to the nurse's office making sure that he hit a chair and the doorpost on the way out.

Naruto flinched. Sai was going to have a migraine when he woke up. Silently thanking the gods he wasn't in that situation, he took a seat next to Hinata, missing Sakura's surprised look.

Sakura grabbed an empty table and decided to save a seat for Ino. She was slightly confused, (Naruto _always _wanted to sit next to her), but shook it off. It was nice that he wasn't annoying her for a change.

"Now that that's over, I'm Anko-sensei, you Chemistry teacher." She smiled and the class shuddered. "This is going to be fun."

As Anko began her lesson, Naruto glanced over at Hinata. She was focused towards the front with her notebook open, ready to jot down notes.

He sighed softly. If they couldn't make Gaara talk, there were other options. The small girl didn't look like she should even be associated with someone like Gaara. The blonde shook his head; he of all people knew that looks could be deceiving. Hopefully it won't come to that.

* * *

Sasuke held in a curse. He _hated _having Kakashi twice in a row but at least he was on time. He looked around in his Japanese Literature class and spotted the person that he was looking for.

He was surprised to find Gaara sitting by the window when he walked in the class. As much as he did not want to, Sasuke bit his tongue and reluctantly moved to the other side of the room.

Gaara turned his gaze away from the outside view and locked with onyx as if he knew what Sasuke was thinking. Pale hands clenched when the red head smirked knowingly before returning his gaze back towards the window.

Sasuke bit the inside of his cheek. He looked utterly calm on the outside but he was boiling on the inside. He wanted to grab the bastard by the neck and demand some answers. He had enough problems to deal with; he did not need this shit too. _Try not to start any bullshit._ The pale skinned boy closed his eyes in frustration, Naruto's warning running through his head. His hand unconsciously reached for his neck but quickly switched towards his hair when he realized what he was doing.

Onyx eyes took one last glance before tuning into what Kakashi was saying.

"- project is due in three weeks. Any questions?"

Sasuke grimaced slightly. _The moment I stop listening, you assign a project._ He grunted softly. _I'll just get the instructions later._

Gaara knew he was being watched. He didn't expect anything less. He shrugged mentally; he was willing to cooperate to a certain extent. The red head smirked. He would humor them, especially the Uchiha, but only because he was truly enjoying pissing him off.

He relaxed slightly and tuned into Kakashi's lecture. Gaara knew he was going to be cornered soon but they were idiots if they thought he would not be prepared.

Aquamarine eyes closed mirroring everyone's current thoughts. _This is going to be a long day._

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Feedback would be awesome. Let me know what you liked or didn't like. Whether it be content, grammar, or anything else...ask any question; I'm all ears.

AN: Just wanted to thank everyone who read & alerted my story...I truly appreciate it =)


	3. Chapter 3

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto_

An/ Just wanted to thank _**NCQueen, Nightbreeze of Windclan, LadyCassie, **_&_** Refrigerator-Burn **_for reviewing! I really appreciate it; it makes me feel special =)

Questions/

_Are Gaara & Sasuke in gangs? _...Yes

_Are the Hyuugas going to be involved? _You have to keeping reading to find that out =)

I apologize for such the late chapter & I'll try to keep some sort of schedule. Enough talking/writing & hope you enjoy!

* * *

'_Today wasn't so bad,' _Hinata thought as she made her way to her school locker. She was kind of disappointed that she didn't have any morning classes with Gaara but he was in her lunch as well as her last two classes.

She absently closed her locker and started to make her way towards the cafeteria only to run into a body.

An arm wrapped around her waist before she could stumble. The bluenette grabbed the arm tightly. "Th-Thanks. Ano, you can let go now."

"I'm fine where I am."

"Excuse- oh, Gaara!" Hinata relaxed her body and began walking beside her not bothering to remove his arm.

The couple ignored the stares and whispers as they made their way to the cafeteria.

"You know, I was going to come and find you," she stated looking up at him.

"And you would have gotten lost," he murmured. The red-head smirked when she forcibly removed his arm from her waist.

She huffed. "Well, did you make any new friends?"

"Yeah, we're all hanging out after school to watch movies and eat ice cream."

Hinata stumbled at the answer. If she didn't know any better, she would have thought he was being serious. "So I'm guessing that's a no."

"What about you? Did you meet anybody, preferably girls?"

"I actually did," she smiled brightly. "They're really nice –_if you don't piss them off_ –and I also met some of Naruto-san's friends. He's in my chemistry class."

Aquamarine eyes narrowed slightly. "Is that so? Did he speak to you?"

Hinata's smile faded at the tone in his voice. "He's my lab partner for the semester." Their eyes met. "Don't do anything. He wasn't interrogating me or acting cautious around me or asking me any suspicious questions. He was just being nice."

Gaara's expression gave nothing away. "Stay away from him and see if you can switch partners."

Eyes widening at the statement, Hinata grabbed his arm roughly. If she would have been anybody else, she would have been on the ground already. Instead, he settled for a glare.

She glared right back. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she was glad the hallways had cleared. Everybody was in their classes or in the cafeteria so it was just the two of them in the hallway facing off. "No, I am _not_ someone you can order around. He's not as bad as you're making him out to be. Not everyone does it like you, Gaara!" She breathed deeply.

"I'll be careful, I promise" she whispered, "But I am not doing this again. Just…_please _can we have a normal senior year? Can I enjoy being sixteen without having-."

She was cut off when she roughly pulled closer to him. Gaara unconsciously steadied her as he drew his face towards her. "You think I'm doing this just for the hell of it?" His voice was dangerously soft. For a moment, it seemed as if his eyes had flashed.

Hinata knew he wouldn't hurt her but she couldn't help but tense slightly. She needed to calm him down. "That's not what I meant," she murmured, "I understand that you're trying to protect me but you don't need to. I'm a big girl; I can handle myself."

Hands slid up his shoulders and around his neck bringing him closer, if at all possible. Déjà vu. "I'm safe; we're safe. There's nothing to worry about, right?"

Gaara's hands twitched slightly at the question but Hinata didn't notice. He nodded slowly. The small girl in his arms smiled softly and tried to move back but was blocked by his arms still firm around her waist. She sent him a questioning look. He closed the distance between them, giving her a brief kiss. _I'm sorry. _He never apologized, not verbally at least; his actions always spoke louder than his words.

Hinata smiled. _I forgive you._ The red-head allowed her to move back this time. They continued their walk towards the cafeteria. The petite girl laughed a little. "Let's not make this a habit, okay? Seriously, at this rate, you're gonna make me late for everything."

"Hopefully not everything."

He smirked as he walked past her, leaving her frozen with her eyes wide and face completely flushed. Her mouth opened and closed a few times. "I can't believe you just said that." She shook her head at his behavior walking through the doors into the noise of the cafeteria hall. It was huge. Tables were spread all around the place and not one seat was empty.

She turned toward her companion about to ask him where he wanted to sit only to find him missing. The bluenette looked around for him but instead found a blonde girl, Ino, waving her over. She smiled and waved back. Well, she found a place to sit. _I'll meet up with Gaara later._

* * *

They just had to go and piss him off._ I thought I made it clear._ He couldn't believe he let them get to him. He should have known.

Gaara didn't bother to hide his appearance. He was no longer in the mood for games. The red-head had left Hinata as soon as he spotted him. He would catch up to her later. He rounded the corner and entered a classroom on the right.

Naruto was sitting on a desk, occupying himself with what looked to be like a diamond necklace. Shikamaru was to his left with his head down. To the average person, he looked asleep but Gaara knew better. Sasuke didn't bother sitting down. He was too tense so he leaned against the wall and glared at Gaara. If looks could kill, the red-head would have been six feet under.

He didn't even notice and if he did, he wasn't bothered. Skipping formalities and protocol, he headed straight for Naruto only to be blocked by Sasuke.

Gaara didn't flinch when their gazes met. They stayed still measuring each other before Sasuke stepped out the way. Gaara crossed his arms over his chest. "I thought I made it clear," he growled.

Naruto looked up at him and smiled cheerily. "Welcome to Konoha High, Sabaku." Shikamaru raised his head and sighed in irritation. "Stop being an idiot, Naruto."

"You might want to listen to your friend."

The blonde's smile disappeared and was replaced by a serious expression. "Alright then, what brings you to my neighborhood?"

"It's none of your damn business."

Blue eyes narrowed. Naruto rose up from the chair and walked up towards Gaara. "As a matter of fact, _Sabaku_, it is. It became my business when you showed me your face."

"I did that as a warning to stay away from her!" Gaara was getting frustrated. He didn't feel like dealing with this bullshit. Where was the respect?

"Does she know about you? About any of this?"

The red-head turned towards the person who asked the question. Brown eyes stared calmly into aquamarine. "She knows enough." Shikamaru nodded, knowing that that was all he was gonna get out of that.

"Why don't you just tell us what the fuck you're doing here, _Shukaku_." It seemed Sasuke was losing his patience. He bit back a curse when Naruto shot him an icy glare. Gaara turned his attention towards him and smirked cruelly.

"How've you been, _Hime_?"

Naruto grabbed Sasuke's arm sharply as he lunged towards Gaara. _Bastard!_

"Either control yourself or get the fuck out!" the blonde stated harshly. He looked at Gaara. "Look, I don't want any problems. Just give me the reason why you're here and as long as it doesn't violate anything, we won't bother you."

"So you want me to respect you as you did me, right? I showed you my sign and I showed you my girl and yet you still decided to approach her."

Sasuke snapped his head towards the blonde, while Shikamaru actually glared at him. _What the hell were you thinking!_

"You talked to her? You told us to stay away her!"

"Shut up Uchiha and let me handle it," was the growled response. Sharp blue eyes turned its attention to Gaara. He held up his hands slightly as a passive gesture.

"Look, I didn't mean any harm. She seemed like a cool person hang with, so I introduced her to some of my friends on the outside."

Gaara face went blank. "How long you've been here?"

"Almost a year."

"Hn."

Shikamaru sighed in irritation. He just wanted to get this over with so he could finish his nap! "Alright, alright. Look it seems like we got off on the wrong foot. If we agree to stay clear of Hinata-san, will you give an explanation of why you are here? Don't say you have none, you were the leader of _Shukaku_, you knew that you were stepping into our territory."

"And you would be?"

"Nara Shikamaru, Uzumaki's _Shadow._ Over there is –."

"I already know the _Hime_." The red-head felt some twisted satisfaction when he heard a deep growl and a _snap! _Poor desk.

Sasuke wisely kept his mouth shut.

Gaara held back a sigh. Hinata was probably wondering where he ran off too. "I came here as a…request."

"By who?"

"No one you need to be concerned about. All you need to know is that I am no longer the leader of _Shukaku_ and that the only reason Hinata and I are here is to finish our senior year."

Naruto nodded in acknowledgement. "So why did you come here? Why didn't you just finish school in Suna?"

The former leader just looked at him. Was he playing with him or was he just that stupid? "You don't _just_ leave _Shukaku._ I was the only exception although that was mainly because of Hinata. My agreement was to never step into Suna in exchange of getting Hinata out." He smiled without humor and looked at Sasuke. "And everyone knows that this gang is more…open-minded than others."

Naruto tensed slightly but forced himself to relax. "Who is the current leader?"

"…My brother."

"…"

"That's all you're going to get out of me. So are we done here, am I cleared, Uzumaki?"

"Yeah, Sabaku, you're clear. I would still watch my back if I were you because a lot of people are _not_ going to be happy that the former leader of _Shukaku _is running around in our territory."

"Whatever and I don't go by that name here, it's Gaara." He made his way towards the classroom door with a few parting words. "It was a _pleasure _talking to you, Uzumaki, Nara, _Hime._"

* * *

"That _fucking_ bastard!"

"Shut up." Naruto stated with a casual tone.

Sasuke turned on him with a glare that could melt ice. "Why would you approach her? That was probably the most idiotic thing you will do today. He could have come in here swinging and we wouldn't have been able to do anything."

"I knew that," Naruto stared at him, "and what did I tell you?"

The black-haired boy tensed. "No one has _ever_ called me that and you expected me to just stand there? And what do you mean you knew what you were doing? I thought we agreed stay away from the girl and approach _Shukaku_ alone."

Shikamaru sighed as he stood up. "Troublesome. Look, Naruto, its fine if you want to be friends with the girl but we needed to talk to Sabaku first. He was right; you completely disrespected him when you approached Hinata-san after he showed his sign and when he showed us that Hinata-san was with him. You should have waited."

The blonde leader nodded absently. "Well, what's done is done. Sasuke, why don't you head back in the cafeteria; there's still about fifteen minutes left to grab something. Shikamaru, I need to talk to you for a few minutes."

Sasuke knew a dismissal when he saw one. "If you want me to leave then just say it instead of pussyfooting around it." He clenched his fists tightly together in anger. "Why are you dismissing me anyway? You need me considering I interacted with Shukaku's gang more than anyone here."

"And the genius has answered his own question."

"Well, it's quite simple, Sasuke," Naruto said, ignoring Shikamaru's statement. "I still don't trust you or your information. I may have taken you back, _saving_ your life, but that doesn't mean you're my equal…not anymore."

Sasuke ignored the way the words had stung him slightly. His pride wouldn't allow it. He unconsciously began to rub his tattoo again before stopping abruptly when he noticed deep blue eyes staring at the action. "Tch," he hissed, "Do whatever the fuck you want, I'm out of here." He snatched his backpack and stomped out the doorway slamming the door behind him.

Shikamaru just shook his head in irritation. He was normally laid-back, calm, and even lazy but ever since Sasuke came back, the genius has been on edge. "You say you don't trust him yet you constantly allow him with information. You need to remember that this isn't just about you, the group almost split because of your decision to let the bastard back in. What's the deal, Uzumaki, what's really going on inside that dense head of yours? I'm your right hand man and yet you are always leaving me in the dark."

Naruto just sighed wearily. "We'll talk about it later; what did you get out of the conversation, Shika?"

Shikamaru swallowed a retort and focused on the subject at hand, Gaara. "For the most part, he is telling the truth but he isn't telling us everything." He yawned loudly before continuing. "I think there's more to the girl than he's telling us, what that is, I don't know. We could have…retrieved the information from her but unfortunately, you fucked that up," he stated bluntly.

Naruto winced slightly at the statement. "I know! I'm sorry but she seemed like a really nice person and..."

"And because you couldn't pursue her, you decided you wanted to become friends with her," Shikamaru chuckled slightly at Naruto's widened eyes. "They don't call me a genius for nothing."

He sobered somewhat. "That's becoming a problem, Uzumaki. You keep acting before thinking. All you had to do was wait until you talked to Sabaku and then we wouldn't even be having this conversation. I'm not saying to change your personality but I am saying that you need to start thinking before you act. It might save your life."

The lazy boy sighed tiredly before grabbing his backpack and heading towards the door to his next class. So much for his nap.

"So as my _Shadow_," Naruto whispered when Shikamaru stopped at the door, "what should I do?"

"Troublesome. Why don't you try becoming friends with Sabaku? I don't mean asking him to join because, from the look of it, he's still loyal. As your _Shadow_, I say that you should probably avoid Hinata-san for awhile, at least until some of the tension is gone."

The blonde chuckled weakly and scratched the back of his head with one hand. "That's gonna be kind of hard since she's my chemistry lab partner."

"…You are an idiot." Shikamaru raised his hand in farewell. "You're on your own with that one."

Naruto hung his head in defeat, so much for that.

* * *

(Meanwhile)

"Hinata-chan! Over here!" Ino shouted over the noise waving at the blue-haired girl standing in the doorway. It looked as if she was searching for someone.

Said girl looked her way and smiled, waving back. She began making her way towards her, oblivious to the stares from the guys and girls alike.

"You know, new girl, you are the talk of the school," Ino stated when Hinata found her way to the table. "You've already met Chouji-kun, Sakura-chan, and Sai-kun."

"Hi, once again," the petite girl smiled. "How's your head feeling, Sai-san?"

Sai rubbed the back of his head tenderly and sent her a fake smile. "My head feels fine. Thank you for asking, Fl -," his mouth clicked shut when he met Ino's icy blue glare.

The blonde rolled her eyes in irritation. "Over there is Tenten-chan and Lee-kun."

"Nice to meet you Tenten-san and…Lee-san." Hinata had paused slightly when she locked eyes with Lee. Tenten smiled and waved before continuing with her lunch.

"It is a wonderful pleasure to meet the beautiful Hinata-chan! I must say -,"

"Lee-kun, how did you know Hinata-chan's name?" Ino interrupted, looking at the two in confusion. They both seemed to have frozen at the question. Tenten rolled her eyes missing the reaction. "Well, considering you shouted her name across the room, I'd say everyone knows her name."

"That's right, Ino-chan! You're beautiful voice sung her name to me!"

"Oh, right," Ino smiled sheepishly. "Come sit next to me!"

Hinata smiled at the gesture. Ino seemed like she really wanted to be her friend. She sighed a little shakily and looked around the table. Sakura and Ino were in a deep conversation and from the sound of it, boys. Chouji was very focused in his food; it must have been very good. It looked as if Tenten and Lee were talking about a school project. She focused more on Lee. He seemed really familiar to her but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

"…am I right?"

"Ano, gomen. Can you repeat that?" the bluenette asked as she tuned back into the conversation between Ino and Sakura. She took a drink from the bottled water in her bag.

"Have you seen the other new student? I heard that he was really hot although probably not as hot as my Sasuke-kun!" Ino squealed in delight. "Apparently he wears really heavy eye make-up so he must be Goth or something. That's not really my type but…Hey!" the blonde shouted in surprise as Hinata spat her drink on her.

Hinata couldn't help it. When she heard that last part, it was either spit the water out or choke on it. She decided to do the first option before she burst out laughing. "I'm s-so s-sorry." She hid her mouth with her hand as she tried to control her giggles.

"It's okay," Ino had a slight disgusted look as she wiped her shirt with some napkins. "What made you do that?"

Hinata blushed a bright red when she realized the table was looking at her. Most looks were of surprise and slight amusement. She still couldn't help but giggle slightly when she thought of what Ino said. Gaara would not be amused. "D-Did you say eye make-up?"

Ino nodded. "You know him?"

The bluenette calmed down enough to talk without stuttering. "Yea, his name is Gaara, and he's my boyfriend. And I can assure you that he doesn't wear eye make-up." She giggled at the last statement.

Hinata's smile faded slightly when she saw Ino's eyes light up. "So," she dragged out. "You have a boyfriend and it's the hottie all the girls are lusting after. Hope you're a good fighter. Man, I wish I could see him!"

"Is that him?" Sakura asked.

Hinata and Ino turned toward the doors of the cafeteria and spotted a red-head casually looking around the room. Ino's eyes widened when she saw him. "That's your boyfriend? I'm so jealous! He is yummy, so what's he like -,"

Hinata sighed in relief when her cell phone rang out. She checked the caller ID before standing up. "Sorry but I must take this. It was nice meeting you all."

Everyone smiled at her. "We should hang out sometimes, ne?" Sakura asked.

"Yea, that sounds great." With that, Hinata answered her phone and headed towards Gaara. It was a quick conversation because by the time she reached the red-head, she had put her phone back inside her bag. She reached out to grab his arm only to be blocked by a body. She pulled back in surprise and slight aggravation but Hinata wasn't worried. A rare smirk crossed her face as she crossed her arms and waited for the short show to begin.

The bold female was wearing a tight leather mini skirt and a red checkered corset. She had wild red hair on one side, straight on the other. She had an air of confidence around her. She licked her lips as her red eyes set sight on the delicious red-head before her. He looked bored but no guy has ever turned her down.

"Hey sexy," she purred. "My name's Karin and if you ever need a tour guide, I'm your girl. May I ask your name?"

"Fuck. Off." Gaara moved around her and walked over to the person standing behind her.

She gaped in shock before closing her mouth with a pop. Her hands closed to fists in anger. He turned her down for some little…mouse! "Whatever," she sneered, trying to keep a little dignity, "Head off to your little bitch, but you'll regret missing out on this."

She felt a chill go down her spine before heading out the doorway.

Hinata felt his arm relax under hold letting her know he wasn't going to go after her. "There are going to be a lot of girls after you, Gaara. Just because we moved here doesn't mean it's going to change. Plus, it doesn't matter what they think because I know that you're mine. Alright?"

Gaara shrugged in indifference. "So who was that on the phone?"

The bluenette glanced at her bag. "Oh, it was Tem-chan. I need to head home real quick so I need the keys."

"Is there a problem?"

"Nothing I can't handle. I have a free period next so I'll be back before school ends."

Gaara handed her his keys and squeezed her waist causing her to squeak faintly. He smirked at the sound. "Okay, just remember we need to meet the principal after school."

She walked out the doors. "Yea, I know. I'll see you later."

Gaara watched her fading figure before searching the area where she came from. He was met with shocked gazes at what had recently transpired. _These must be the friends Uzumaki were talking about._ He wasn't impressed. His eyes stayed there a while longer before following Hinata's direction. The red-head didn't feel like eating so he decided to wander around until his next class. He turned in time to see the Uchiha walk, (more like stomp), out of the room their _meeting_ was in.

Time slowed down as they walked past each other. Surprisingly, insults weren't exchanged and a fight didn't break out. Their eyes met, cool aquamarine clashing with glaring onyx, and no words were needed.

_This isn't over, Shukaku. We'll meet soon enough._

_I'll be waiting, Hime._

_

* * *

_

If you guys could review I would forever be grateful =)...Please? Pretty Please?

For those who have read and alerted to my story...*eyes shine with tears*...I really appreciate it!

'Till next time,

Tw33ty JR.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

AN/ Special Thanks to **_retarded yet smart, erihar1979, icequeen2897, Sepsis, Wannabe-Temari, 4Evr.-A.-fAIlUrE, .Windclan, Refrigerator-Burn, and HinataMorningstar_**...Once again, thank you so much for reviewing, I truly, truly, _truly_ appreciate it =)

Questions/

_So Gaara and Hinata are dating? _...Yes, complicated but yes, and you'll find out later in this chapter

_What does Hinata have to do with Temari? _Temari is like Hinata's big sister and best friend, plus her brother is Hinata's boyfriend

_Where's Neji in this? _Neji is in here but not yet

_Are there other Hyuugas? _Will come soon

_Why do they hate Gaara? _Can't answer just yet, yes, yes, more secrets =)

_Does Naruto back off of Hinata?_ That answer will be later on

Sorry about the late chapter but the server has been down, so special thanks to **_EvilAngeal_** for showing me how to post this! =)

Hope you guys enjoy the chapter!

* * *

Hinata stuffed the books she didn't need in her locker and headed for her last class of the day, P.E. She swung her backpack on her back and walked to where Gaara was waiting.

"Hey, Hinata-chan!"

The bluenette turned her head at the sound of her name. The source, being Ino, was waving as she made her way over with Sakura in tow. Hinata smiled and waved back.

"So what class are going to next?" the pretty blonde asked when she reached the new student.

"P.E.," Hinata replied.

"We have that too," Ino replied happily, pointing to herself and her best friend.

"Cool," Hinata stated. An arm wrapped around her waist pulling her towards a hard chest. No words were needed as their eyes met. The petite girl smiled widely and Gaara's aqua eyes narrowed subtly. It seemed as if he was sulking.

"Ano…"

Hinata focused back on her new friends. Sakura and Ino were alternating between her and Gaara with confused looks on their face. The bluenette giggled. "I'll see you guys inside, ne?"

The girls nodded their heads as their new friend's boyfriend tugged her away. Ino looked at Sakura. "Okay, did we just miss something?"

Sakura shrugged in response. "Let's go or we're gonna be late."

* * *

"Alright, youthful students!"

Hinata's eyes widened before she quickly schooled her features.

This was interesting.

Her mouth trembled slightly, trying to fight a smile from forming on her lips. She looked at Gaara, who was standing next to her. His expression was blank but his eyes held amusement.

Their teacher, who had introduced himself as Gai-sensei, had on what seemed to be a _really _tight one-piece bodysuit in a bright green color. His hair was styled in a bowl-shaped cut and he had humongous eyebrows! And when he smiled, she had to close her eyes to keep from going blind. Come to think of it…

_Lee-san resembles him a little bit._

"Since this is the first day, we're going to start off with something light," Gai stated (more like shouted) enthusiastically. He held a red ball in his hand. "Dodgeball!"

Most of the students were glad for an easy game while some (mainly the girls) didn't want to be bothered with such a "strenuous" activity. What if they broke a nail?

"Gai-sensei?" a student asked. Hinata looked to her right and saw that it was the girl from lunch period. _What was her name?_

"Is this mandatory?" the girl asked, bringing Hinata out of her musings. "Can we just sit this one out?"

"Good question, my young student!" Gai gave one of his blinding smiles. "Yes, you must participate in this wonderful game if you want credit for today."

There were a couple groans heard throughout the gym. The girl's mouth tightened in displeasure before crossing her arms over her chest.

_Did she say her name when she spoke to Gaara? Man, this is going to bug me._

The bluenette knew it wasn't that big of a deal, but for some reason she really wanted to know her name. She understood that she couldn't ask her boyfriend. He probably didn't even bother to listen to the one-sided conservation. Hinata turned towards him in thought. She _still_ wanted to know where he disappeared to for half the lunch period.

As if reading her mind, Gaara turned his head toward her in question. The petite girl opened her mouth but was interrupted before she could get a word out.

"Alright!" Gai shouted to grab the students' attention. "Captains!" He picked up another red ball and threw both of them at an incredible speed.

Although Gaara had his focus on Hinata, he still caught the ball with ease, smirking when he heard the awed gasps.

Hinata rolled her eyes playfully and smiled. "Show off."

The other ball was thrown at Naruto, who caught it with the same grace.

"Sweet!" Naruto laughed. He locked eyes with the former red-headed leader and they both smirked.

_This is going to be fun._

_

* * *

_

"Alright, Naruto-kun and Gaara-kun," (Hinata and Gaara had introduced themselves before the class had begun), "Choose your teams. Naruto-kun, you can go first."

Naruto smiled widely in anticipation. "I choose…_Hinata_…tem-, ano, I mean Sasuke."

Sasuke rolled his eyes but proceeded towards the blonde anyway.

Gaara repressed a sadistic smile. He knew what Uzumaki was going to say. "Hinata."

Deep blue clashed with cool aquamarine. The former nodded his head in acknowledgement. "Sakura-chan."

The red-head turned to his girl. Hinata's response was to look around the huge gym. She was glad some of her new friends were in this class with her.

She turned back to Gaara and pointed at the pretty girl with the blonde hair. "Ino-chan."

He turned in the direction the bluenette was pointing and tilted his head in a "come on" fashion. He had recognized her from the cafeteria and also as the one that was talking to his _muzai_ in the hallway.

Ino smirked as she made her way towards the small group.

Soon everyone was on a side.

Naruto's team was near the back of the gym while Gaara's team was towards the front. Gai stood in the middle with an unusually serious expression on his face.

"Okay, my youthful class. This is a friendly game. We do not need any injuries, so, there will be no hits towards the face or any other sensitive areas. There will absolutely be no fighting; this is not about who wins and who loses, it is about having fun. If this gets outs of control, we will be doing my form of training for the rest of the week and the perpetrators will have detention for the rest of this week. Is that understood?"

"Yes, Gai-sensei," rang out in the gym.

The serious face was replaced by a blinding smile and then a thumbs-up sign. "That's what I like to hear!" He walked to the sidelines, which would soon be filled with students, and looked alternatively between the two teams.

Naruto shook slightly in anticipation, hands against the mat. Even Sasuke smirked eagerly. He needed something to release his stress and he knew who the perfect target was. At that thought his smirk widened even further.

Gaara stayed in a relaxed position with a bored expression on his face, but Hinata knew better. She got into a running position and looked at Ino. They both smiled at each other.

A whistle sounded throughout the gym causing everyone to race towards the middle to try and grab a ball.

Four balls in the back (Naruto's team) and five balls in the front (Gaara's team). For a moment, it seemed as if everything was at a standstill.

Surprisingly, (for those who did not truly know her), Hinata was the starting gun. She was able to grab two balls, and so threw one to Gaara, who hadn't moved from his stance, and threw the other ball at the opposing team. It was chaos after that.

* * *

Naruto was hitting anything that moved, not bothering to dodge. He either reflected the ball or caught it, never slowing down. He was the star player on the soccer team due to his high stamina.

It looked as if his throws were chaotic and unpredictable but he always seemed to hit his target. He caught another ball and with slight hesitation threw it at Gaara, who avoided it. It was subtle, but a few people took notice that his throws never came close to Hinata.

* * *

Although Sasuke wasn't showing it, (and would probably deny this with his last breath), he was enjoying himself. As the school's best track runner, his speed was unmatched. Those who knew of his record didn't even bother to try to hit him and the few who were brave enough to try, their efforts were easily dodged.

When he didn't have a ball, Sasuke focused on dodging and when he did have a ball…Sasuke smirked as the ball hit the boy's side hard.

Oh yeah, great stress reliever.

He didn't even mind that his main target was able to avoid his throws. That was fine; he always loved a challenge.

* * *

It seemed as if Sakura and Ino were in their own world. While they were expertly dodged the flying balls, their main targets were each other.

"Is that all you got, Forehead?" Ino shouted with no heat. She picked up a rolling ball and threw it at Sakura.

The pink-haired girl laughed as she avoided getting hit. "Come on, Ino-pig!" she shouted back. Sakura caught a ball causing the girl who threw it to step onto the sidelines. "You can do better than that!"

Ino and Sakura threw their ball at the same time. Ino's ball hit Sakura in the leg while Sakura's ball hit Ino in the chest.

Ino grabbed her chest in more shock than pain and joined Sakura on the sidelines. The blonde glared at her friend. "Geez, Sakura-chan, you could have aimed lower."

Sakura, in turn, just shrugged slightly as she smiled sweetly. _Easy target._

* * *

Hinata was having a good time. She laughed as she twirled around another flying ball. This was the most fun she had since coming to this place, well, besides -.

"Whoa!" She squeaked in surprise as she ducked her head quickly to avoid getting hit in the face. "Hey, watch it!"

"Sorry! Accident!"

It was the red-headed girl with the leather skirt. Hinata nodded her head in acknowledgment; she still couldn't remember her name. The girl just smiled sweetly, (a little too sweetly), and waved.

_She must still be angry from Gaara's rejection. _The petite girl rolled her eyes. _Seriously, these girls always take their anger out on me. It doesn't seem to matter that he was already taken before they even approached!_

Hinata whipped her head towards Gaara and gave him a mock glare before focusing back on the game.

She caught a ball and threw it swiftly, hitting her target. She couldn't help jumping slightly at her success.

Oh yeah, this was fun.

* * *

Gaara had a small smirk on his face when he felt Hinata's stare before calmly stepping to the side as a ball whizzed past him.

He wasn't catching the balls or even throwing them; he was simply dodging them. The red-head actually _still_ held the red rubber ball Hinata threw at him in the beginning of the game.

He avoided another ball. The loud sound coming from the ball meeting the wall behind him depicted how fast the ball was going. Well, he knew he threw that one, but he still didn't relinquish the ball.

He was saving it for something special.

* * *

Ten minutes rolled around, and more and more students were being sent to the sidelines. Very few people were catching the red, tough, rubber balls; so many students just sat on the sidelines and watched the game's progress.

Naruto and Hinata had each caught a ball, allowing one person from their team to come back into play. Naruto had brought back Sakura and Hinata made Gaara bring Ino back in.

Now the only students remaining were Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke, and the pretty girl dubbed Red Head (courtesy of Hinata) from Naruto's team, and Gaara, Ino, and Hinata were all that was left on Gaara's team.

The now crowded sideline audience watched in anticipation.

Once again, Hinata was the shotgun. The bluenette threw her ball and twirled away from the one thrown by Sakura.

Ino aimed her ball at Naruto, who in turn, dodged it and threw his ball towards the blonde. His aim struck true, making the blue-eyed beauty walk towards the sidelines once again, leaving only Hinata and Gaara.

Sasuke and Naruto began to gang up on Gaara, who continuously kept dodging.

Sasuke didn't voice it, but he was becoming increasingly frustrated. If he couldn't kick the bastard's ass, he wanted to, at least, get a hit on him.

Hinata avoided another ball aimed for head and narrowed her eyes in annoyance. Didn't Gai-sensei say 'no head shots'?

As if answering her question, a whistle rang throughout the gym. Everyone froze in their spots. They were confused. What happened?

"Karin-kun, you're out of the game," Gai said seriously. _So that was her name!_

"What?" she cried. "It was an accident!"

Gai shook his head. "No. Step onto the sidelines, now. I will see you in my office after class. Do we understand each other?" He wasn't yelling, but everyone heard him.

Karin glared at Hinata. _This was her fault! _She clenched her teeth and answered the question. "Yes, Gai-sensei." She crossed her arms over her chest and stomped towards the sidelines.

Gai waited until Karin sat down before focusing back on to the surviving players of the game. The serious expression didn't leave his face. "Continue."

Everyone looked at their teacher for a few seconds before shrugging. Every teacher in this fucking school was just weird.

* * *

Sakura was a little nervous. Hinata had managed to stay in the game the whole time and Gaara…Gaara _still_ hadn't thrown that damn ball he was holding!

That split-second thought cost the pink-haired girl the game as a ball hit her foot.

Hinata, Naruto, Gaara, and Sasuke were the only ones standing.

They each had a ball in their hand and they were waiting for someone to make a move. Naruto and Sasuke unconsciously turned their eyes to Hinata (considering she's been the first to do everything and Gaara still had that damn ball in his hands).

Naruto was struck first. He stayed there for a few seconds in shock. Hinata still had her ball. He looked at Gaara's empty hands and then met his aquamarine eyes. He laughed sheepishly, scratching the back of his head.

Hinata's eyes narrowed at the interaction.

"Good luck, teme," the blonde muttered at Sasuke when he walked over to the sidelines.

"Tch," was the response as the pale boy focused on his opponents.

Onyx eyes took in Hinata who was laughing at Naruto. He looked at Gaara and smirked. The red-head stared back calmly. He picked up another rubber ball and once again, everyone was playing the waiting game.

The tension was thick.

"For kami's sake, someone throw some_thing_!" Naruto yelled from the stands.

Hinata giggled and threw her ball at Sasuke, already knowing he was going to avoid it. She jumped to the side quickly as the round object flew by rapidly.

And the game continued…

* * *

Hinata sighed in annoyance. Okay, the game was fun at first, but now it was getting boring.

Everyone had avoided getting hit and no one was even bothering to catch a ball to let anyone else back in the game.

Gaara and Sasuke weren't even throwing the balls anymore and instead opting for a glaring contest. Ugh, boys.

"Ano, Gai-sensei?" The bluenette looked up at the clock above the basketball hoop. "There's only five minutes left in class."

She looked at the immature idiots before turning back towards her sensei. "Can we just say that we won, considering it's still two against one?"

Gai nodded. "Wonderful sportsmanship!" he cried. Excellent skill! Excellent strategy!" The class sweatdropped at their sensei's behavior. Well, at least he was back to normal. Gai was scary when he was serious.

"So, ano, can we leave a little early?"

"Yes! Karin-kun, I will see you in my office and for the rest of my youthful students, I will see you on the next beautiful day! Until then, farewell!" and with that statement, he was gone with Karin grudgingly making her way in the same direction.

The students looked at each other before shrugging. It was their last class anyway.

By then, most had grabbed their things and proceeded out the gym doors.

Once more, Naruto, Gaara, Sasuke, and Hinata had remained behind.

It looked as if Naruto was subtly holding Sasuke back. Hinata had her hand on Gaara's arm although she knew he wouldn't move unless provoked. She absently spotted blonde hair heading in their direction.

Ino had told her pink-haired best friend that she would meet up with her later and proceeded back inside the gym to make sure nothing got out of hand with her new friend in the mix. She saw the way Gaara and Sasuke interacted with each other. It definitely was not friendly.

"Hey," she called out warily, making her way towards the group. The thick tension was making her cautious. She looked at Hinata, "Sakura-chan and I are heading out to grab a bite. Do you want to come?"

Hinata smiled sincerely. Most girls never wanted to talk to her, let alone, hang out.

"That would be nice, but Gaara and I have a meeting with the principal and we're kind of running late." She tugged lightly on the red-head's shirt.

He turned his head away from Sasuke and Naruto and reluctantly turned his attention toward her. Hinata sighed and looked at Ino. "Gomen, maybe tomorrow?"

The blonde nodded happily. "Sure, give me your phone and I'll put my number in."

The bluenette took her phone out of her bag and handed it over. Ino took it, feeling a little awkward with all the tension between the guys. How did Hinata not notice it?

Hinata, meanwhile, was close to screaming in frustration. Was it going to be like this every time they crossed paths? This was ridiculous.

She was pulled back in reality when Ino gave her back the purple phone.

"So, I guess I'll see you later." Ino nodded at her own statement and walked away.

Hinata deliberately moved away from Gaara's arm and walked towards Naruto and Sasuke. It looked like they were having a heated discussion.

Naruto stopped speaking and tensed slightly when he saw her coming. He forced himself to relax and threw her an easy smile. Sasuke crossed his arms over his chest and silently stared. _So this is Shukaku's girl, huh?_ He slid a quick glance towards to the former leader. The red-head looked calm though his clenched fists gave him away. Sasuke looked back at the petite girl with a sparked interest. _So you're his button. I wonder…_

"So, I'll see you tomorrow, ne, Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked.

The nervous blonde cleared his throat. "Yeah, of course." He took a quick glance at the clock. "Well, I have detention, so me and the teme are out."

"I don't have detention, idiot."

Naruto smiled and threw his arm around Sasuke's shoulder. "Yeah, but you're gonna be a good friend and walk me there."

Onyx eyes narrowed in annoyance. He roughly pushed Naruto away and walked out the gym, not bothering to talk to Hinata and Gaara as he passed them.

Naruto scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "I guess I'll see you guys around," and with that, he was gone also, leaving Gaara and Hinata alone.

For the second time today, they faced off. _We've been doing this a lot lately._

He was pissed. Her question brought him back to the present.

"Did you speak to him?" she asked. _So that's where he went._

The red-head didn't bother with ignorance. "Yeah."

"Was my name mentioned in your…conversation?"

"Yes."

Hinata nodded her head in understanding. "So you spoke to him, about me, without letting me know?"

"_Muzai _-,"

She furrowed her brows and held up her hand, signaling for him to stop. She closed her eyes and then opened them with comprehension. "Naruto is the _Kyuubi_."

It wasn't a question.

Gaara, in turn, closed his eyes in frustration. "Yes," he growled.

"And you weren't going to tell me? 'Stay away from him,' that was your solution?" she cried.

"So that's why you went to talk to him," Hinata shook her head wearily. "You know I would have found out eventually."

She clenched and unclenched her fists. "I'm guessing from the way he acts towards me that he knows nothing about me, correct?"

"And he's not going to," Gaara snarled.

"I don't feel like dealing with this," she looked at him, eyes sharp with anger, "So what _did_ you say about me, _Shukaku_? Am I the naïve, helpless girlfriend who knows that her boyfriend is a feared gang leader? Or am I your _nagaremono, _lying on my back at the snap of your fin-."

He was in her space again.

Gaara's eyes flashed in cold rage as he held her firmly but gently. Always gentle.

Hinata struggled in his grip before giving up.

"I'm sad that my _muzai_ thinks so little of me," he stated flatly.

Hinata turned her head away and said nothing. Gaara sighed tiredly. He understood her anger but must she be so stubborn? He just wanted to keep her safe, was that so wrong?

"We moved here so that you and-,"

"No!" Hinata snapped. "We moved here so that _we _could get away from all this." She moved her hands around in emphasis.

Gaara's eyes pierced into Hinata's. "You know that will never happen. No matter where I go, people will know me as _Shukaku_." His voice softened, "But they do not know about you and I made sure of that."

He ran his hand through her blue hair. "Why won't you let me keep you safe?" he whispered.

She relaxed in his grip, somewhat, but not completely. "So what did you say to him? I don't want to give anything away."

Gaara rolled his eyes at her sarcastic tone. "They know that you know about me and that's all they know."

The bluenette stepped away from his grip and he allowed her. "Alright, so the naïve girlfriend it is," she said, "Thanks for letting me know."

She picked up her forgotten backpack and headed towards the gym doors. Gaara followed her.

"Where are you going? We still have a meeting with the principal."

She reached into his pocket and took out his keys. "She's going to say the same thing to both of us, so just fill me in when you get home. I'm tired."

He could have stopped her easily but, instead, shouldered his backpack and continued to walk with her.

He smirked at her, "So how am I getting home?"

Hinata smiled at him weakly. She was still a little angry but she knew him and understood why he was doing what he was doing. "You have a nii-chan and your nii-chan has a car. You can figure that one out, right?" And with that question, she headed out the school's door.

Gaara shook his head with amusement as he watched Hinata hop on his bike and started it. She snuck a quick glance in his direction before driving out the parking lot at top speed. He relaxed as he watched her disappear. Hinata wasn't one to hold onto anger very long. She would be okay by the time he got back. And with that thought, he headed back inside for his very late meeting with the principal.

* * *

He was leaning against a bike rack when a red Beamer pulled up beside him. He got inside the car and leaned his head against the window without saying a word to the driver.

He sighed when the car didn't move. He looked over to see his sister, Temari, smirking at him. Her dirty blonde hair was down from her usual ponytails and she sporting basketball shorts and a cropped shirt. The car was in park and she didn't bother putting her hands on the steering wheel.

Temari leaned back in her seat and waited.

Gaara sighed in frustration. "What?" he growled.

Temari laughed. "So what did you do this time?"

"Hn," the red-head murmured as he turned his head back towards the car's window. "I was just trying to keep her safe."

Temari snorted.

"It was -."

"Bullshit," Temari interrupted. "You always do this. Hina-chan and I are big girls; you don't need to protect us, constantly." She was no longer smiling.

She sighed as she put the car in drive and headed out the parking lot. "Stop leaving us in the dark because you know we're going to find out sooner or later; like whatever you're hiding now," his eyes widened at the statement, "You know she's going to find out."

Satisfied with Gaara's reaction, Temari willingly dropped the subject. The rest of the drive was in comfortable silence.

When they reached the small but comfortable house, Gaara took a look at his sister's clothes. "Nii-chan?"

She paused halfway out of the car. Temari turned towards him, looking amused. "Hm?"

It was a few moments of silence before he sighed in defeat. "She didn't say anything?" he asked.

Temari smirked. "Nope," she stated happily. "I figured it out when she came home and you didn't."

"Yet, you decided to come two hours…You know what? Nevermind."

Temari laughed again as Gaara shook his head. She was having too much fun at his expense.

As they reached the door, they heard footsteps running around before a crash. Gaara and Temari rolled their eyes when the handle jiggled.

Temari opened the door and a red blur ran past. Or tried.

Gaara picked it up and threw it in the air. It squealed in joy when he caught it.

Temari walked past him and called out, "So what did she break this time?"

The red-head walked inside and shut the door behind him. A tug of his hair got his attention causing him to look into to aquamarine eyes just like his.

"Chichi! Chichi!" cried the little girl in his arms, happily, pulling his hair with each word.

He allowed her with a soft look on face. The little girl let go of his hair and patted his face gently. "Good day?" she asked. "Good day?"

"Yes," he rumbled gently. "I had a good day, today. How was your day, Murasaki-chan? Did you have fun with Temari-obasan?"

Murasaki nodded happily and began to tell Gaara all the things she did that day. He reached the living room and sat down with her in his lap. He listened contently as she continued to talk.

He stroked her red hair in a soothing gesture and Gaara fully relaxed. After awhile, he noticed it had gotten quiet and he looked down to see Murasaki had fallen asleep. A small smile formed on his lips. He adjusted her slightly before leaning his head back and relaxing further.

He continued to stroke her head as fell into a light sleep also.

* * *

_nagaremono _- tramp

AN/ Let me know what you guys think! I know that this is my story but I'm writing it for your pleasure and I want to know if I'm doing a good job...So any questions, concerns, praise, confusion, critiques...I'm all eyes

For those who have read, reviewed, or alerted to my work...Thank you so much, it truly is my motivation

Until next time,

Tw33ty JR.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

AN/ Special Thanks to _**HinawithLove, SarcasticScript, deshy07, 4Evr.-A.-fAIlUrE, Refrigerator-Burn, Wannabe-Temari, Mina, Venusgurl5, BookFan22 a.k.a GwenFan22, and readingwithenvy**_...I truly appreciate you guys for reviewing! =) It really does give me inspiration and motivation!

I want to apologize for those who were confused the last chapter. So, to clear things up, Little Murasaki is Hinata and Gaara's daughter.

And as for Hinata's anger, she isn't truly mad at the fact that Gaara kept it a secret; she's angry that he is keeping her in the dark purposefully and she sees it as an insult...You'll find out why soon.

I also want to apologize with the sporadic updates but there's only two more weeks of classes left! So, hopefully I'll fall into some normal pattern afterwards...

So! Enough talking/writing...I really hope you enjoy the next chapter! =)

* * *

Gaara awoke a couple hours later. He opened his eyes and looked around the room, waiting for them to adjust to the darkness. Someone one was in here with him.

The red-head looked to his right and found Hinata sitting on the opposite end of the couch, lost in her thoughts.

He stifled a yawn, and adjusted himself, careful not to wake their still sleeping daughter.

Gaara looked towards Hinata again. Her eyes held a soft look as she watched Murasaki sleep contently on Gaara's chest, her tiny hands wrapped tightly in his shirt.

"It's funny," she stated softly as she looked into Gaara's eyes, "I never thought I would be in this situation. Not after -."

Her voice broke slightly. Gaara remained quiet.

"I mean," she continued, "I'm living with my seventeen year old boyfriend and his twenty-one year old sister is my guardian."

The bluenette scooted closer to her boyfriend and rested her head on his shoulder. He responded by wrapping his free arm around her waist and pulling her closer. She sighed wearily.

"I'm a sixteen year old mother of a beautiful little girl," she laughed somewhat bitterly as she ran her hand gently through her daughter's red hair. "I wonder what people would think about that."

"Our lives are none of their business," Gaara stated quietly. "It does not matter if they knew about Murasaki or not, but I won't announce it."

Hinata opened her mouth to respond, but Gaara interrupted once more. He gently pushed her off his shoulder and stood up, putting Murasaki smoothly over his shoulder. He turned towards Hinata before walking out the living room and headed up the stairs to his right.

Hinata stayed there for a moment before following them. She walked in to see Gaara setting Murasaki gently into her crib and then placing Shu-Shu, her stuffed tanuki (a gift from her uncle), right beside her. He was slightly amused and partially disturbed of how his daughter came up with that name. He knew that it was named after him, but she was unable to pronounce _Shukaku_. Instead, Murasaki settled for naming it Shu-Shu.

The red-head knew that Hinata was behind him and so, with one more glance towards his innocent daughter, he walked out the door and headed towards their bedroom with Hinata in tow.

"Where's Temari?" Gaara asked as he opened the door, letting his _muzai_ go through first.

"She went to bed an hour ago," she replied. "She has a photo shoot in the morning."

Hinata walked into the connected bathroom and did her nightly routine. She walked out passing Gaara on the way. She slowly removed her clothes, completely losing herself in her thoughts.

_Why didn't he tell me? He knows I would have found out anyway, so why bother keeping it a secret?_

Gaara brought her out of her musings by clearing his throat. He smirked mischievously when she squeaked in surprise and tried to cover her state of undress…and failing miserably.

Gaara's voice was husky and low as he chuckled lightly. He took a step towards Hinata and she mimicked him by taking a step in the same direction. They continued their game until Hinata ran out of room, her back landing against the wall. By then, Hinata had dropped her cover and stood in only her matching, black lace, bra and panties. Gaara came within an inch of her. He casually rested his hands beside her head, preventing her escape.

Her body trembled slightly as his eyes darkened deliciously. Hinata bit her lip in what seemed to be in worry, but her eyes held a different story. Lavender eyes, half-lidded, she offered him a rare smirk. The petite girl leaned toward her boyfriend, mouths centimeters away from each other.

"No," the reply was whispered against his mouth. Hinata leaned back, removed his arm, and walked towards the dresser. She threw on his red T-shirt before walking towards the king-sized bed.

Gaara had dropped his head in slight annoyance but he had let her escape. He turned around and couldn't help but smirk as _his_ T-shirt showed her long pale legs. "Still angry?" he asked as he watched her get into the bed.

She shook her head and patted the spot next to her as an invitation. "I know why you did it," she spoke, "but we still need to talk."

He nodded, more for himself than her. Gaara dropped his jeans and shed his shirt in a fluid motion and threw on some basketball shorts before joining Hinata in the bed. Without stopping, the red-head grabbed her by the waist and pulled her towards him causing Hinata to straddle him.

Hinata sighed as she ran her hand affectionately through his blood red hair. Gaara, in response, nestled his head comfortably on her chest with his hands softly stroking her sides. They stayed in their comfortable position for a few minutes before Hinata broke the silence.

"Why keep it a secret?" she asked, "You knew I would have found out so why bother with all the secrecy?"

Gaara sighed under his breath, squeezing her sides in comfort. "I know you can take care of yourself, but is it so wrong for me to want to keep you safe? My first thought isn't to put you in the frontlines, Hinata."

"I understand that, Gaara, but I wish you would just trust me. Stop handling me as if I'm going to break," she trailed off when she felt Gaara tense beneath her.

He looked up at her from their position, eyes bright. "This has nothing to with trust and you know it," he growled. "Stop being selfish."

Hinata reeled back from the comment as if she had been slapped. Her eyes narrowed, hurt being replaced with anger, she opened her mouth to retaliate.

The former leader shook his head, interrupting her. "No, listen. You're mad about how I left you in the dark, but you're forgetting that this isn't just about you. Did you forget about our daughter? Did you forget the whole reason we moved here?"

He sighed in irritation when Hinata turned her head away from him. She was the only one who got away with treating him like this. He gently grabbed her chin, forcing her in his direction. They locked eyes before she lowered hers submissively. _I apologize._

"I'll give it to you from _Shukaku's _perspective. You are my weapon and not only are you my weapon, but you are a _rare_ weapon. You know that the only females associated with gangs are _nagaremonos_.

"As my weapon, I can do with you as I please and I choose to hide you. Even when we were in Suna, no one knew about you except a few people, so why are you pissed about it now?"

The petite girl didn't answer, knowing it was a rhetorical question. "You were my ears as you are now. Why do they need to know that you're my tool? That would make it harder for me; that would make it harder for your leader."

Gaara smirked when he saw her beautiful lavender eyes flash. "I am no one's _tool_," she hissed in rage.

"You were," he stated seriously, hands sliding in her hair, "but no more, so why get involved? I will always be _Shukaku_. I did this to keep you and Murasaki safe. The moment you step back in, you are _mine_ to control, understand?"

Hinata nodded her head reluctantly. She always knew that, but she couldn't help but feel slightly hurt. "Is that all I was to you?" she whispered as she traced his tattoo. Gaara closed his eyes at the sensation, but continued to listen. "Was I just a replacement after Temari-chan left?"

The former leader pulled her even closer. "No," he said simply. "From the moment I saw you, as obsessed and twisted as I was; I didn't want that to be your fate. When I saw your potential, I saw it as an opportunity, and I grabbed it. I always wanted a better life for you, but those were not the cards we were given.

"I'm doing this for our daughter and I'm doing this for you. You know I wouldn't have risked everything if I didn't feel for you." He looked at her softly. "I need you to stop doubting me; I need you have a little faith and I need _you _to trust _me_. I'm not doing this for the hell of it; I'm doing this, so Murasaki won't have to deal with the shit we've been through. I don't need to be worrying about you also."

Hinata nodded her head in understanding. She hesitated but plowed forward; some part of her needed to know. "Do you ever think of where we would be if we didn't have Murasaki-chan?"

The red-head's hands, which were unconsciously running up and down her sides, came to abrupt halt. Hinata forced herself to remain relaxed as she waited for an answer.

"I would be dead," he stated bluntly, "and you would be a _nagaremono _to the leader."

She swallowed softly and nodded her head in understanding. She opened her mouth only to squeak in surprise as she was flipped over. Gaara smirked before covering her mouth with his; his tongue lazily intruded into her warm mouth, deepening the kiss. He grabbed her hands holding them over head and grinded slowly into her, swallowing her soft moan. The former leader released her when breathing became a necessity.

He smirked as his darkened aqua eyes took in his girl's dazed appearance. "No more talking," he rumbled huskily, "Even though we've been to hell and back; I don't regret anything, do you?"

Though Hinata could barely think coherently, she shook her head in comprehension. She kept getting distracted with Gaara's pleasantly heavy body on her; she arched her back for relief and was rewarded with a hiss.

She gasped when Gaara retaliated with a bite on her neck, immediately soothing it with his tongue. He blocked her as she tried to wrap her legs around his waist, smirking when she whined in frustration. His free hand tugged teasingly at _his _shirt before smoothly sliding underneath, touching scorching smooth skin.

Hinata squirmed as she tried to free her hands. She bucked once more, but Gaara rode her easily. The bluenette moaned deliriously when a slim hand ghosted over her covered breast. She knew what he wanted but she wasn't giving in. "G-Gaara," she panted. _Damn!_

"Yes, my _muzai?_" he asked smugly.

Hinata bit her lip and shook her head side to side. Her eyes rolled in the back of her head; Gaara's arousal brushing against her heat.

"Say it," he growled, beginning to pant himself. He wouldn't be able to hold out much longer, but he wasn't going to lose. "Come on, Hina, say it."

_It's not fair! _Some part of her mind was thinking that, but another part could care less. "_Please_," she whispered hoarsely, "Please, please, please, please!"

He chuckled deeply and released her. One of her hands flew to his chest while the other squeezed his member firmly. Gaara groaned in pleasure before pulling her in for a bruising kiss. His hand teased the edge of her lace underwear…before reality crashed down on them like cold water.

A whimpered cry from down the hall grabbed the couple's attention. Gaara groaned in utter disappointment, dropping his head into Hinata's neck. Although feeling the same disappointment, Hinata couldn't help but laugh at her boyfriend's reaction.

Another cry rang out, this one calling out for Gaara. Hinata giggled slightly, running her hands through his hair. "You better go get her before she wakes up Temari."

Gaara simply grunted before reluctantly pulling himself off of the bluenette. Hinata leaned back with a sigh and laughed as Gaara walked awkwardly towards the bathroom. She would have gotten Murasaki herself, but her daughter was picky. Whoever she called out to, was the one that had to get her, or her tantrum would only get worse.

Gaara walked out a few minutes visibly more calm. The cries had died down but that wouldn't last for long if he didn't get her soon. As soon as he walked out the door, Hinata put her face in the pillow and screamed. She couldn't believe she lost that easily! _Next time, he's going to be the one begging._ She nodded her head to emphasize her thoughts.

* * *

The moment Gaara walked into his daughter's darkened room was the moment she stopped crying. Gaara rolled his eyes but couldn't stop the small smile from forming on his face at her manipulative actions.

Murasaki hated sleeping alone. Temari, Gaara, or Hinata (depending on who was with her) would always make sure that she would use every drop of energy before putting her to bed because if they did that, she would sleep like the dead. _Not tonight, though._

The little girl watched as her father dimly turned on the lights and then gave her a stern glare. Murasaki giggled happily and raised her chubby arms up.

Gaara crossed his arms across his chest and looked at her. "You should be asleep, Mura-chan."

"No!" she shook her head fast, "Chichi, up! Up now," she responded.

"Sleep," he repeated.

Murasaki shook her head harder. She put her tiny hands on the edge of the crib and stomped her feet for emphasis. She opened her mouth to scream her answer before she was suddenly lifted into the air and placed against a warm and firm chest. The little girl looked around her before staring into Gaara's eyes.

She wriggled in joy, laughing happily. Reaching out her hand towards his face, Gaara remained still. "Gud," she stated as she patted his face like one would a dog, "Gud."

Gaara couldn't help but snort softly at his daughter's actions. He was completely wrapped around her tiny little finger and he knew it. He didn't mind it one bit. At one point in his life, he had only cared for himself. Now there were two people who he centered his world around and he loved it. They gave him a purpose. Everything that he did, he did for them and he was perfectly fine with it.

Murasaki's mumbles brought him out his thoughts making him realize that he had already made it back to his bedroom. Hinata looked up from her spot and smiled widely. Just seeing Murasaki made her feel lighter. She held her arms out and wiggled them playfully, already knowing the result. Murasaki shook her head and proceeded to grab a chunk of Gaara's hair, pulling roughly. Hinata playfully pouted but she wasn't truly jealous; Murasaki always was a "Daddy's Girl". She actually thought it was really cute.

Murasaki opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted by a loud yawn; her tugs becoming less pronounced as her body was starting to become too heavy for her. Gaara smirked at the display. His daughter laid her head on his shoulder but was trying desperately to keep her eyes open; fighting sleep with everything she had.

"Sleep," Gaara rumbled softly swaying side to side. He began humming, nothing in particular, but he knew that Murasaki loved the sound of his voice. The little girl rubbed her eyes with her tiny fists furiously, but it was a losing battle and before she even knew it, she was already in her dreamland.

Gaara stopped humming the moment Murasaki's body relaxed completely against him. He looked up to see Hinata with stars in her lavender eyes. Gaara rolled his aquamarine eyes at her action. He made his way to the bed and handed their daughter to Hinata, who laid her in the middle.

"You really are adorable when you do that," she teased as she laid right next to Murasaki, who in turn, unconsciously snuggled closer to her mother. "She absolutely loves your voice, especially when you hum for her."

Gaara put a feral smirk on his face before retorting. "Like mother, like daughter."

Glad to have the last word, he turned the lights out, bathing Hinata's gaped mouth in darkness. His smirk melted into a small smile when he heard her giggle softly. He shifted to get into more comfortable position.

"Goodnight, Gaara."

"Goodnight, _Muzai_," he whispered before falling into his meditative trance for the night.

* * *

It was morning, though the sun did not make its appearance just yet.

Gaara slowly pulled himself back into reality, becoming more and more aware of his surroundings. He grunted softly when a foot connected with chest. He started his gaze from the foot and wasn't the least bit surprised to see that the owner was not in her original spot.

Hinata had somehow ended up diagonally on the opposite side of the bed, bedspread tangled and pillows thrown in almost every direction. Her blue hair was splayed haphazardly everywhere, her lips partly open, and _his_ red shirt riding up showing her black lace underwear. Her long legs were facing his direction, somewhat trapping him where he was.

He smiled when he found Murasaki in almost the same position with the exception that her legs were facing Hinata.

The red-head moved Hinata's foot from his chest and got up from the bed. He walked towards the bathroom to begin his morning routine. He came back into the room fifteen minutes later with a towel wrapped around his waist and his hair wet from the shower.

He threw on a pair of fresh jeans and a black shirt that hugged him. Rubbing his hair with the towel, he walked over to the bed, where Hinata and Murasaki were still sleeping like the dead. The former leader shook his head in amusement before picking up his daughter gently and walking out of the room.

Heading into Murasaki's room, he changed her and then dressed her in a pair of white shorts and a red dress. He was putting on her shoes when Temari walked in, completely dressed and with keys in her hand.

She chuckled when she saw that Murasaki was still out cold, but that made it easier on her. "She ready to go?" she asked, absently twirling her keys.

Gaara nodded without looking in her direction, "Did you pack her bag?"

"Yeah, I put it in the car already."

Gaara nodded again, picking up the still sleeping girl. He handed her to his big sister. "Thanks, Temari…for taking her with you."

The dirty blonde waved her free hand in dismissal though her face remained serious. "You know it's not a problem, otouto; family is always first in my book. I'm just glad my job allows me to take her without questions being asked."

"No one is bothering you, are they?"

Temari snorted, "No and even if they were, I can handle myself, Gaara. Like I said before, I'm a big girl.

"Plus, I'm a model," she stated as if that explained everything, "Like those airhead bitches know anything about where we came from, let alone who we are…or at least the ones I work with."

"Well, enjoy your shoot." He ran his hand through Murasaki's hair before heading back into his bedroom. The sun was just beginning to rise when he heard Temari's car leave the driveway.

He walked over towards the bed with a vicious gleam in his eye. The bluenette had changed positions once again and was lying in her original position the night before. He quietly took a seat beside her and relaxed for a few minutes. He looked to his left to see the clock reading 7:00 a.m.

The former leader nodded to himself as if agreeing with someone about something. He casually turned towards his girl…and pushed. He couldn't stop the smirk from forming on his face when he heard an 'oomph!' coming from the floor below him.

Calmly looking over the side of the bed, he was greeted with the sight of Hinata sprawled on the floor; blue hair completely tussled, the huge red t-shirt showing a generous amount of pale skin, long legs spread out awkwardly, and lavender eyes looking positively _livid _at the wake-up call.

Aquamarine eyes glowed in amusement. "Good morning."

Hinata was anything but amused. Slender hands grabbed the side of the bed and pulled Hinata up to eye level with Gaara. She smiled sweetly at him, inching closer to him. "Good morning," she whispered before abruptly heading towards the bathroom and slamming the door behind her.

The red head laughed under his breath when the frame rattled from the force. He took great pleasure in pissing her off. _I wonder how she's going to retaliate. _He headed down the stairs and into the kitchen to grab a bite to eat, all the while, thinking of how Hinata was going to repay him for that little stunt.

He smiled to himself. _She can't fool me; I know every move she's going to make. I just have to keep my guard up and wait until she drops hers._

* * *

Hinata bounced down the steps in denim bermuda shorts and a hugging black tank top with a ripped white t-shirt over it. She decided to leave her hair down hoping it would dry faster.

Walking around her boyfriend, the bluenette grabbed an apple off the counter before heading towards the front door. "What are we taking?" she called from the hall as she opened the door.

"My bike," he answered, "What's the hurry, anyway? School doesn't start for another half hour."

If Hinata was in the same room as him, she would have been glaring. "Because I do not want to be late again," she called.

Despite her words, Gaara remained in his spot at the kitchen table. He rolled his eyes when he heard the rumble of his…_Wait. _The red-head grabbed his dish and placed it in the sink before heading out the door where his girl was.

He couldn't help the small sneer that came to his mouth when he saw that Hinata was sitting on her bike. "I thought we were taking mine," he stated calmly as Hinata looked up from her dark purple, splattered with pink motorcycle.

Hinata just smiled back sweetly. "Well, since you weren't leaving now, I figured I would just meet you there." Her smile faltered slightly when his expression didn't change. She pouted a little. "Geez, Gaara, have a little fun. I used your bike yesterday."

"Because you were pissed and I didn't feel like getting my ass kicked."

She rolled her eyes. He was a drama queen when he wanted to be.

"I'm not riding on that." His words brought her out of her thoughts. The bluenette restrained herself from rolling her eyes again. "I figured that; I want to race."

Aquamarine eyes lit up in interest, though his face remained neutral. His lean arms leaned against her handle bars. "What's the wager?"

Still seated, she leaned forward until their faces were centimeters apart. "One week. No Questions Asked," she whispered.

Gaara smirked cockily before pushing into a standing position. "You sure you want to risk that?" he asked arrogantly. He walked into the open garage, grabbing his helmet and jacket, before walking towards his bike while throwing his black leather jacket on. He straddled his bike and started it. The red-head turned his eyes toward his _muzai_. "You know this is going to be an easy win, right?"

"Funny," she retorted, "You took the words right out of my mouth." The petite girl put on her helmet and revved her engine. Gaara copied her actions and slowly rolled his bike down the short driveway. He looked to his left to see Hinata slightly leaning back in relaxed position while waiting for his signal. His mouth became slightly parched as he slowly took her in with appreciation. _Damn! She has no idea what she does to me. _He glowed in pride at the fact that she was his…_and mine alone._

The former leader turned to her, nodding his head in acknowledgement before donning his helmet. He held up his hand, eyes completely focused on the road before him. _The school grounds might be in for a surprise; _his absent thought before they both took off at an incredible speed toward their high school.

* * *

Naruto grumbled as he eyed his baby critically. He finished his inspection and looked up with a face of pure dejection and sorrow. He sniffled a bit as he faced his companion.

"Why?" he cried. "How could you do this to her? You tainted and defiled her! My baby! My poor, poor baby! You…You…"

"I washed it, you fucking idiot," Sasuke growled as he cuffed the pathetically sobbing boy in the head. Naruto just grabbed his head and continued to cry and murmur what seemed to be soothing tones to his '68 Metallic Orange Chevelle.

Sasuke had to physically restrain himself from knocking the idiot into next week. It still amazed him sometimes that his intimidating leader was this blubbering fool…and his closest friend…_or used to be. _

Long pale fingers ran through dark black hair as Sasuke stifled a sigh. He couldn't stop a small frown from marring his chiseled features. He kept trying to tell himself that Naruto just didn't understand why he did what he did; that Naruto would _never _understand…but he knew. Sasuke clenched his right hand into a fist so tightly that his skin turned stark white from the strain. He would never admit to anyone but himself that he was absolutely _terrified _the night Naruto brought him back.

"Something on your mind?" Sasuke turned toward the voice to see sharp blue eyes probing him as if he knew exactly what he was thinking. Suddenly very uncomfortable by Naruto's intensive stare, he covered it with anger.

"None of your fucking business, dobe," he snarled. He gestured towards the car, "and weren't you crying like a fucking baby a minute ago? I wonder how many personalities you actually have."

Naruto didn't rise up to bait and after a moment of staring, he turned back to look at his car. "You scratched the paint," he stated casually.

Sasuke shrugged nonchalantly, "I just took the car there; I didn't actually wash it."

The blonde took one more look at his car before looking at Sasuke. "It's alright, teme," the leader stated. "I forgive you, but I can't trust you with my car anymore."

Onyx eyes widened slightly before narrowing in furious rage. _That fucking bastard! _Before he could anything he would later regret, Naruto without moving from his spot raised his hand as a greeting.

Sasuke masked his face as Sakura came running up to them. He ignored the way she shyly looked up to him before Naruto grabbed her attention. "Hey beautiful, how are you this fine morning?" he asked cheekily.

Sakura rolled her emerald eyes. "Hello baka, it was fine before you opened your mouth," she joked, smiling at him. She then turned her full attention towards Sasuke, unintentionally dismissing Naruto.

"Good morning, Sasuke-kun," Sakura flushed slightly when onyx eyes coolly settled on her. She may have missed the slight hurt in Naruto's eyes at the dismissal but Sasuke didn't. Maybe Naruto didn't consider him his best friend anymore, but he still did…almost desperately. He was the closest thing he had to family since…the black-haired boy shook himself forcefully from his thoughts and focused on the situation at hand.

Naruto had been in love with Sakura since they met her six years ago, but Sakura only showed interest in Sasuke, though he had expressed his _un_interest many times. That only seemed to make her more determined to win his heart which caused Naruto to increase his efforts. For six years, it was an endless love triangle that he never even wanted to be a part of. He couldn't even count how many times he and Naruto have fought over Sakura. The blonde would be pissed over the way he treated the pink-haired girl and though he would never tell him, Sasuke would be pissed at how Naruto would pine after someone who constantly and, at most times, violently rejected him. He, at one point, thought Naruto was a masochist but he had cast the thought aside.

He watched Naruto out of the corner of his eye before giving Sakura an acknowledging nod, like one would to an acquaintance. Sakura, in turn, beamed and plowed forward with a little more confidence. "It's so beautiful today and I was wondering if, ano…" she bit her lip and flushed a little more deeply, "if -,"

Her words were cut off by the roar of the engine. The trio as well as the people lounging in the parking lot and hanging on the school grounds as they waiting for the school doors to open turned towards the source of the noise.

They all watched as a deep purple, splattered with pink motorcycle roared into the parking lot intimately followed by a sleek black motorcycle. The rider on the first bike looked to her left and abruptly turned and parked in the empty space. The second rider slowed to a stop right the behind it and cut the engine.

Neither noticed the crowd as they pulled their helmets off. Hinata's long blue hair fell down her back in waves. She threw her head forward and then back before she turned to her companion, smiling wide. Gaara had just finished taking his helmet off, his unruly red hair, falling into his eyes. He ran a hand through it before throwing a brief glare at his girl.

"Never pegged you as a cheater, Hinata," he murmured.

Her smile didn't waver as she got off her bike. With her helmet under her arm, she walked over to Gaara and looked at him innocently. "Don't be such a sore loser," her lavender eyes lit up in amusement. "And since when have there been rules to our games, Gaara-_kun_?"

He smirked as he shook his head, "Alright, you win; I concede." Hinata looked at him with a mischievous gleam in her eyes as she leaned forward. She cocked her head to the side and put her free hand behind her ear. "What was that?" she asked. "I didn't quite understand that statement."

Gaara rolled his eyes but complied with her unspoken request. Still seated on his bike, he grabbed her by the waist, pulling her close. "My _muzai_ has won the wager and therefore she has seven days of No Questions Asked," he whispered in her ear, inwardly pleased with the way she shivered.

The bluenette backed up slightly, her face slightly flushed but still smiling nonetheless. "I'm going to hold you to that." She began walking away from him and almost faltered when she realized everyone was staring at her. She blushed a deep red and unconsciously looked towards Gaara as her support. _I wonder when we're going to stop being the main attraction._

She looked around and finally found some familiar faces. The petite girl smiled widely and quickly made her way over.

Sasuke sneered slightly at the sight of _Shukaku, _but his eyes lit up in interest at his girl. He turned to his companions to see Naruto's mouth hanging open in astonishment and Sakura's smile faltering a bit before she put it back in place. Sasuke gave a passing glance at Hinata before focusing on Gaara to see his reaction.

Gaara met his eyes and smirked. With his bike parked right next to his _muzai's_, he calmly made his way over. He nodded at Naruto who returned the gesture. He wrapped his arm around Hinata's waist and pulled her closer. Sasuke and Gaara noticed a slight twitch in Naruto's hand as he leaned against his car, causing the former to frown in slight confusion and the latter to smirk inwardly. Hinata would have noticed also if she wasn't busy at glaring at Gaara. She knew exactly what he was doing, but knew she couldn't comment.

The silence became stifling and tense causing Hinata to sigh inaudibly. Sakura was looking between the three boys, somewhat alarmed at their reactions. Naruto looked a little tense as he and a seemingly smug Gaara seemed to communicate telepathically and from the strayed glances, it was about Hinata. Sasuke's expression was the one that triggered a small frown on her face. He may not have noticed, but his dark onyx eyes were lit up in interest as he spared a glance at the petite young girl.

Sakura felt a shot of envy towards Hinata for taking all the attention before squashing it quickly. She couldn't help but let a small thought slip. _What makes her so special?_ She shook her head and cleared her throat hoping to break the awkward silence. "Good morning, Hinata-chan and Gaara-san."

Hinata broke her angry gaze at Gaara and fixed Sakura with a genuine smile, making said girl feel a little guilty for thinking rude thoughts about her. "Hello Sakura-san, how are you today? Is there a reason everyone is hanging outside in the school yard?"

A real smile formed on the pink-haired girl's face. "I'm doing fine today and the doors don't open until eight, so people who arrive here early just hang out in the front until the doors open and if it's a nice day outside, we usually just stay out here until the warning bell rings."

Hinata nodded in understanding before turning her attention towards Naruto. Her sharp eyes noticed that he was subtly tense although, on the outer surface, he appeared casually relaxed. She snuck a quick peek and hid her surprise when she found that he was casually studying her, but in a way that Gaara didn't even notice. _What is he trying to find? Well, Gaara did say I'm still his ears…so let's find out what the mysterious Uchiha Sasuke is hiding. But first…_

Hinata focused her attention on her boyfriend and made him squeeze her waist with one word. "_Akushon_," she stated rather smugly.

Gaara, in turn, closed his eyes in brief irritation. _Okay, maybe I deserved that because I have a feeling of what she going to do. _He withheld a sigh and responded, "_Ikketsu_."

Ignoring the confused and suspicious stares, Hinata walked away from Gaara's embrace and onto the other side of Sakura. "Good morning, Sasuke-san and Naruto-_kun_."

Gaara couldn't help but be slightly amused at Naruto's action. Naruto opened and closed his mouth, but surprisingly no words would come out. Hinata narrowed her eyes in slight concern, while Sakura and Sasuke were, in a sense, shocked. Even when Naruto fell head-over-heels in love with Sakura (_Did he still feel the same way?_), he _always_ had something to say.

To say that Sasuke was simply interested would be an understatement. He was absolutely intrigued now. Apparently, Naruto found _Shukaku's nagaremono_ appealing. His onyx eyes gleamed slightly. _I could use this._

"Ano, are you okay?" That question brought him out of his thoughts and he looked to his right at his speechless leader. He rolled his eyes before cuffing the blonde's head to get him to respond.

"Shit! I mean, ano, good morning, Hinata-san…Gaara," he smiled sheepishly and scratched the back of his head nervously, "So, how was your first day? Do you find Konoha High to your tastes?"

Hinata bit her lip to prevent the smile from forming on her lips. "It went alright and this school is okay," she responded as she took a quick look around. The high school looked very prestigious compared to her last school in Suna. She smiled wryly at the thought. It wasn't really the school that she missed, but her friends and her home.

"Nice ride, Uzumaki," Gaara commented stepping smoothly into the conversation. Naruto's blue eyes shined at the mention of his baby and the discussion went off from there.

Hinata and Sakura began their own conservation allowing Sasuke to just observe. He was still tense with _Shukaku_ being here. He gritted his teeth in anger at Naruto's laid-back acceptance. He refused to acknowledge it as jealousy. He was cautious and annoyed that the infamous former leader of _Sabaku _was running around their territory without a leash and a track and how _Kyuubi _didn't seem to give a damn. _Shukaku is dangerous and is here for a reason and I intend to find out, starting with her._

The warning bell rang and the grounds began to clear as the students made their way inside the school to head to their homerooms.

"You do know where it is, right?" Gaara teased as he walked past her. Hinata laughed as he ducked a punch she threw at him. She stuck her tongue out as a response and he smirked before heading in with Naruto. Sakura silently watched the display. Her musings were interrupted when Ino bounced up, giving Hinata a tight squeeze and casually swung an arm around her shoulders.

"Morning, guys!" she announced happily. They returned her greetings and began making their way inside the school also.

Hinata quickly looked behind her before turning back to her companions. "I'll meet you guys inside, okay?"

"But we don't have homeroom together," Ino protested loudly.

"Gomen, I need to talk to someone. I'll see you in Chemistry and save me a seat at lunch." She giggled at Ino's pout and Sakura's exasperated head shake. It was nice to have female friends.

"Alright," Ino grouched before going back to her cheerful personality (It still kind of freaked Hinata out that she could switch that quickly). "See you later, Hinata-chan!" Sakura nodded her head in agreement before they both headed inside.

The bluenette's smile gradually fell from her face as she made her way back towards the parking lot where a lone person was leaning against an orange car.

_Looks like I'm going to be late again. _"You're going to be late for class," she stated, silently glad that Gaara walked in with Naruto.

Sasuke, in turn, snorted at the statement and looked her over. _Not bad. _"Hn. Kakashi won't show up until the last fifteen minutes of class."

Somewhat surprised that he even bothered to answer and relieved that she would not be late, Hinata plowed forward. "What do you want with Gaara?" the bluenette asked bluntly, having to tilt her head up to look him straight in the eye. He was slightly taller than Gaara, but in turn, Gaara was broader.

Sasuke smirked, "That's none of your fucking business."

"I'm his girlfriend."

The black-haired boy chuckled mockingly. "You're his _toy_," he corrected. "Although you must be _really _good for him to give up his leadership, maybe I should give you a try," he lied smoothly.

Hinata's eyes burned in rage at the implication. Thoughts ran through her mind, mainly of maiming this arrogant _bastard _in front of her; instead, she took a deep breath and forced herself to relax. She needed some answers and he was surprisingly willing to talk.

"Why are you so hostile?" she continued, ignoring that last comment. "From what he told me, your leader accepted him. I may not know a lot, but I am not ignorant."

"Is that so?" Sasuke finally rose from his position and stepped forward into Hinata's personal space. As much as she wanted to step back, the bluenette knew what he was doing, and so instead, held her ground. He stopped when he was a few inches away from her and lowered his head. From a distance, it looked as if a couple were stealing an intimate moment. _Hmmm, not bad at all._

"Your _boyfriend_," Sasuke whispered harshly, "doesn't belong here and neither does his _nagaremono_."

Hinata met his gaze unflinchingly and spoke softly, "From what I've heard, Sasuke-san, you belong here just as much as Gaara and I do." She stepped away from him and made her way back to the school. The bluenette looked back to see that he was still frozen in place. "I hope your leg feels better," she said and left him with that statement.

Sasuke stayed in his position for a few more minutes, his mind trying to process what the hell just happened. He let his feet lead him inside the school and towards his homeroom with a barely noticeable limp while he continued to think. _She knows more than she's letting on and how the fuck did she know about my leg? _He narrowed his eyes. _I need to know more before I decide to share. Hinata..._Sasuke barely repressed a smirk. _I love a challenge and the wrapping isn't so bad either._

* * *

_muzai -_ innocence

_nagaremono - _tramp

_akushon_ - action

_ikkestu - _agreed

_Chichioya _(or as Murasaki says _"Chichi"_) - Father

AN/ Let me know what you guys think...pretty please! I want to know if I'm doing a good job because this is for your pleasure and if you're not enjoying it, then I'm not doing a good job...So any questions, concerns, praise, confusion, critiques...I'm all eyes (( Plus, your reviews make me all tingly inside *^^*))

For those who have read, reviewed, or alerted to me or my work...Thank you so much, it gives me great motivation

Until next time,

Tw33ty JR.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

AN/ Special Thanks to **_HinawithLove, retarded yet smart, SarcasticScript, Shiko Isihamaru, kurenai cakes, AllyKatButterfly, Wannabe-Temari., 4Evr.-A.-fAIlUrE, and readingwithenvy_**...I really want to thank you guys for reviewing =) It gives inspiration, motivation,...and it makes me feel really good inside!

You are going to be seeing a different side of Naruto and Gaara in this chapter, just so you won't be surprised.

Once again I'm really really sorry for such the late update, but I do hope you enjoy the chapter!

* * *

_He was walking out the school doors when his name echoed in the halls. A shiver raced down his spine, but he shook it off. He braced himself and turned around with a scowl on his face._

"_What do you want, -," his words became lodged in his throat at the sight before him._

"_What's with the face?" the voice asked casually, "I just need something from your locker. You think you would be able to grab it for me?" It came out as a question but he knew it was anything but._

_He didn't bother with a nod instead walking past, not bothering to see if he was being followed. He finally reached his locker and opened it impatiently. He scowled, "Get what you need so I can get the fuck out of here."_

_He completely missed it._

_Stars burst before his eyes as his head harshly greeted the locker. "Well, that was rude, Sasuke-chan. We really need to work on your manners." Before he could get a grip on his bearings, his back hit the floor. He wheezed, his breath escaping forcefully from his lungs; courtesy of the fist in stomach._

"_We also need to work on your listening skills." Sasuke coughed forcefully and rolled painfully to the side. He slowly raised himself to an unstable standing position. Panting and with his eyes averted submissively, "I apologize," he spoke hoarsely._

_He managed not to scream when _something_ sliced through his leg. Or maybe he just imagined it, he looked down to see that his right leg was beginning to swell with a nice purple color, but there was no blood and definitely no cut._

_He glared at the perpetrator, who in turn, didn't seem very concerned. He actually looked bored. "You're not sorry." It was said so sincerely that it just had to be a fact. "I'm actually really starting to hate that word coming from your mouth. Do you even know what it means?"_

_Sasuke didn't rise to the bait, but instead, focused on trying to get his breathing back to normal, trying to block the pain in his leg, and trying to prepare himself in case of another attack._

_Naruto shook his wild blonde hair in what seemed to disappointment. Sasuke gritted his teeth in pain mixed with anger. "You don't seem to get it, do you?" he asked flatly. "You may be in my league, but you are not my equal. You are on probation. That means that you are the lowest of the fucking low."_

_Briefly losing control of his rage, Sasuke was able to land a hit on his leader, causing Naruto to slam into the lockers behind him. He stood up as fast as he could with a bad leg, but not quick enough. The hair rose on the back of his neck and before he could turn around to face the danger, he was back on the ground, a tan hand casually gripping his neck._

"_There goes that temper again, Sasuke-chan," Naruto scolded. "If you want to act like a child, I'll treat you like one. The only reason we're in this position is because you didn't listen to me or Shikamaru this morning. We told you not to start any bullshit with Sabaku and what did you do? Go ahead, you can answer."_

_The black-haired boy glared at his leader in defiance and remained silent._

"_Okay, I'll answer for you. You seemed to lose all sense of control, all because he called you a name. He baited you and you fell for it; hook, line, and sinker. And not only did you disrespect him, but you disrespected me in the way you acted in front of him and when I dismissed you." Sharp blue eyes looked at Sasuke in what looked to be complete disinterest. "I'm sorry, Sasuke-chan, did you want to say something?"_

"_You…disrespected…"_

"_Yeah, you're right, but you want to know something?" Naruto had a such a wide feral smile upon his face, that one of his abnormally large canines was peeking through. "Kyuubi gets to do whatever the fuck he wants; plus, I sincerely _apologized_," he stated, putting emphasis on the last word._

_The blonde tilted his head to the side. A fox came to mind as Sasuke looked at Naruto's act. "Someone's coming," Naruto stated in a sing-song voice. He gave Sasuke a quick once over and then gave himself a look._

"_I guess I'll deal with you later, but for right now, let's put on a show." He smiled again and his sharp azure eyes were bright. "Come on, Sasuke-chan, I'll even let you get a hit in." The blonde deliberately released the chokehold on Sasuke slowly._

_Sasuke didn't give Naruto a chance to react, as his fist landed in his jaw and his knee landed in his stomach. Azure eyes bulged at the blow, but that damn smile stayed on his face, which only served to piss the Uchiha even more. The black-haired boy rolled on top of his leader to keep him in place as he landed a few more blows._

_He couldn't stop the yell of pain as Naruto grabbed his right leg and twisted. "Too slow," Naruto growled, rolling so that he ended up on top, but before the fight could escalate, he was roughly dragged up._

"_Well, this is unfortunate," a deep calm voice stated._

_Naruto took a few deep breaths to calm himself down. "Hey, Kakashi-sensei," the blonde responded._

_He heard the person behind him sigh as if they saw this situation often. _

"_Shouldn't you be in detention, Naruto-kun?" Kakashi asked lightly._

"_Aren't you supposed be holding detention, sensei?" Naruto shot back, wincing when Kakashi grabbed his shoulder a little too tightly._

"_So are you, young gentlemen, going to tell me what happened, or do you want me to come up with my own conclusions?" Kakashi stepped away from Naruto and crossed his arms across his chest._

"_It was a simple misunderstanding, Sensei," Naruto stated as he looked at Sasuke, who didn't bother to get up from his position. "Right, Teme?"_

_Onyx eyes glared angrily at the two people in the hall. He slowly made it into a standing position, leaning slightly against the locker for support. "Yes," he answered slowly, "It was a misunderstanding."_

"_Well, I hope that my young students don't misunderstand me," Kakashi smiled his eyes closing with the movement. "Both of you know that there is no fighting in the school halls, so Naruto-kun, you can add another week to your detention and a week of detention for you, Sasuke-kun." The gray-haired teacher began walking down the hall. "I'll give you five minutes to kiss and make-up," he said casually as he disappeared down the hallway._

_Naruto smirked at Sasuke, who in turn, simply glared back. He was too riled up to put on his calm façade. "Well, teme, it looks like I win the bet."_

"_What fucking bet?" Sasuke snarled viciously in turn causing Naruto to laugh, despite the bruise forming on his face._

"_I told you that you would end up in detention with me by the end of the day," he stated happily, his demeanor back to normal as if they weren't just at each other throats. The blonde tilted his head to the side and he scratched his tattooed whiskers in thought. "Oh!" He snapped his fingers; a smile slowly crept its way in, and only widening at his own thoughts. "You have to wash my car."_

_Shaky pale fingers ran through ink black hair. "Whatever," he sighed wearily, his eyes stubbornly averted._

"_Let me help you." It wasn't a request, so Sasuke didn't bother to treat it like one. They slowly made their way to detention, leaning on to each other for support._

* * *

Sasuke grimaced as he remembered the way his ass was thoroughly handed to him yesterday after school. He shivered slightly at the way Naruto's eyes had _lit _up. _He was just toying me. _He walked inside the classroom to see Naruto joking around and Shikamaru fast asleep on his desk. Normal.

He gritted his teeth at the new additions. Seated in front of Naruto was Gaara and in his lap was Hinata. She was leaning against the red-head whose hands were securely wrapped around her waist. She was laughing at something Naruto must have said; because the blonde was scratching the back of his head sheepishly and was he?…he was blushing! _The idiot actually has a crush on her?_

Onyx eyes, unconsciously eager, sought out Gaara to see what his reaction would be. _He must know by now._

Gaara's eyes were closed with his head slightly leaned back, showing his blood red tattoo on his forehead. To the outside, he seemed completely relaxed and was probably sleep like Shikamaru sitting diagonally from him. Sasuke looked closer and saw that though he _was_ actually relaxed, the position of his arms told Sasuke that he _knew _about Naruto's little infatuation. His right arm was wrapped around her waist, his hand displayed across her flat stomach while his left hand rested on her full hip, her black tank top riding up slightly. Hinata didn't seem bothered at the obvious display of possession, but maybe she didn't know. _"I hope your leg feels better,"…_Or maybe she did_._

At the moment, she turned her head locking eyes with him before dismissing him focusing her attention back to Naruto. His face remained carefully blank as he finally made his way over. He routinely grabbed Naruto by the back of his shirt and threw him off his desk before sitting down. Naruto grumbled childishly while Hinata laughed at the display. Gaara opened his eyes, simultaneously tightening his grip on his girl.

"I was wondering where you headed off to, teme. I was starting to get worried." Naruto laughed as he claimed the seat in front of Shikamaru, who didn't even flinch through the whole altercation. "Where were you?" he asked.

"I didn't go anywhere, dobe," the black-haired boy sighed.

Naruto blinked before shrugging at the answer. "Well, I was just telling Hinata-chan about how I kicked your ass in soccer last weekend."

Sasuke used that as an excuse to look in the bluenette's direction. She was biting her lip to prevent a smile from forming on her face as Gaara whispered something in her ear. Her lavender eyes settled on him along with a low chuckle under her breath.

"Did you also mention to Hinata-_chan_," Sasuke responded, not taking his focus off the petite bluenette in front of him, "that the only reason you won the stupid game was because you launched the ball at the person behind me and the guy let his dog chase you for two blocks?"

Hinata laughed and Gaara smirked at the discovery while Naruto sulked at his desk, muttering under his breath about the size of the dog and a stupid Uchiha.

"Don't sulk, Naruto-kun," Hinata smiled when she regained her breath. "I bet it was a big dog."

Naruto gave her a puppy-eyed look causing Hinata to bite her lip to keep from laughing again. "He was _huge_, Hinata-san. He had sharp claws and massive fangs and -,"

"He was a Chihuahua," Sasuke deadpanned.

Hinata set off in another peal of laughter and even Gaara snorted. Naruto glared daggers at the black-haired boy and stuck his tongue out. Though Sasuke rolled his eyes at the childish display, he couldn't help but feel lighter. He hated how sometimes, the thin line between his best friend and his leader became so blurred, he never knew who he was going to face.

A small smirk came across his face just as Kakashi's voice rang throughout the class.

"Sorry, I'm late, young students. I decided to 'Go Green' and walk to the school grounds today, but then I met a old lady who needed help crossing the street; so, being the gentleman that I was, I decided to help her, but as we were crossing, we came across a black cat…"

Hinata turned towards Naruto and whispered, "Does he do that a lot?"

The blonde slid his blue eyes in her direction; his head rested on his hand. "Do you mean the part where he _always_ shows up about fifteen minutes before the class ends or his lame-ass excuses?"

Hinata's shoulders shook with suppressed laughter. She had a feeling that this was going to be, if not good, at least an entertaining school year. This environment was _much_ different than the one back in Suna, but she was starting to like it. Everyone (well, almost everyone) was really friendly and although the teachers were a little weird, they seemed to actually give a damn. She gave Naruto a brilliant smile, "Ano, both, I guess."

"You'll get used to it," Naruto smiled back.

The last five minutes were filled with voices competing with the voice in the intercom that was giving the announcements for the day, while Kakashi simply rested at his desk with what looked to be a pornography book in his hands. The students in the front rolled their eyes every time their sensei would giggle like a school girl. It was like a vanishing act when the school bell rang; the students (along with the teacher) simply disappeared.

Hinata got up from her spot and then grabbed Gaara's hand, pulling him up beside her. "See you in chemistry," she said to Naruto as they walked out of the classroom, Gaara's arm firmly around her waist, and into the busy hall.

Naruto sighed…right before slamming his head into his desk. Sasuke stood up with a smirk on his face and began making his way out the door. He couldn't help it, "You sure know how pick them, dobe."

The blonde groaned. "I'm just glad that Sabaku is more amused than threatened; but then, I don't know if I should feel insulted by that."

"Feel grateful, idiot." Shikamaru yawned loudly before shifting in his seat. Dark calculating brown eyes looked at his leader before closing his eyes with an undignified snort. "I truly find it amazing that you're still alive," he muttered.

"What was that, Shika-kun?" The tension came back with a vengeance. Naruto's eyes were ice as he stared at his second-in-command. Shikamaru actually sat up straight and looked into his leader's eyes with no fear. It also almost seemed as if the room grew darker and Sasuke used every ounce of willpower to prevent himself from shivering or taking a step back.

"You heard me, _Kyuubi_," Shikamaru hissed in rare anger. He had been on edge ever since the meeting with _Shukaku_ and for some reason, Naruto and Sasuke's light banter over the former leader's girl, tipped him over. "You are acting like a _fucking_ idiot. You asked me for advice yesterday and yet again, you have ignored it. Why do you even bother to fucking ask if you're not going to listen?"

Naruto's eyes flashed in cold rage. His voice was calm and sharp; the calm before the storm. "You've never been the type to beat around the bush, _Kumori_," he practically purred. "What's the real problem, Shika? You know you can tell me anything," he said in mock sincerity. His eyes held deceived innocence and if he had a tail, it would be flickering playfully.

Shikamaru narrowed his eyes and clenched his fists. He was throwing a fit. He knew it and _Kyuubi_ knew it. He was thinking irrationally; his logic warring with his emotions.

Shikamaru closed his eyes, trying to lock his emotions. His hazy mind cleared enough for him to realize that he just openly challenged his leader. _Shit. _His chocolate brown eyes snapped open before he quickly half-lowered his eyelids, averting his eyes to the right. "I apologize, _Kyuubi. _I was completely out of line."

The blonde let out a sharp laugh that sounded more like a bark. He had his head cocked to the side and a small smirk playing on his lips. His eyes remained fixed on his second. "You can run off to class now, Sasuke-chan. The bell's about to ring and we wouldn't want you to be late, would we?"

Sasuke swallowed his retort at Naruto's playful tone; yesterday's…altercation flashing through his mind. _You really want to go through that again? _The warning bell rang as he made his way out the door and toward his next class, not bothering to go by his locker. _It wouldn't matter either way, _he thought, _Kakashi's going to be late anyway._

* * *

_**Meanwhile in the classroom…**_

Shikamaru remained perfectly still and tense as Naruto closed his eyes and took a couple deep breaths. They remained that way as the students and the teacher began filling up the once empty classroom.

"What are you doing here, Naruto-kun?" asked the teacher as he set his briefcase on top of the desk. He had dark brown eyes and sported spiky black hair. Long sideburns traced his jaw and connected to his goatee. The facial hair only increased his rugged handsomeness and was the target of many school girl crushes.

"I don't have you until after lunch," he stated, his eyes cautiously going from Naruto to Shikamaru.

Naruto scratched the back of his head sheepishly while Shikamaru just leaned back in his seat and sighed in what seemed to be relief.

"Hey Asuma-sensei," the blonde greeted cheerfully, "I was just asking Shikamaru if he wanted to eat off campus with me." Sharp blue eyes met wary brown eyes.

The genius reluctantly nodded his head. He forced a sigh to come from his lips and leaned his head back. "Of course, Naruto."

The teacher pursed his lips slightly as he looked at his two students for a couple seconds longer. "You could have asked him later, Naruto-kun."

The blonde shrugged his shoulders. "It didn't really cross my mind, Sensei."

Asuma withheld a sigh and shook his head. He glanced down at his watch before speaking. "Well, hurry to your next class before the final bell rings."

Naruto grabbed his backpack as he nodded his head enthusiastically. He paused at the door and turned, locking eyes with his second-in-command. The leader smiled widely subtly showing his sharp canine. "See you at lunch, Shika-kun."

Shikamaru carefully kept his bored expression as he lazily waved his hand at his friend. He subtly took deep breaths to calm his racing heart when Naruto disappeared from the doorway. He felt his teacher's stare but deliberately ignored it; instead, leaning his head against his hand and closing his deep brown eyes.

The final bell ring and as Asuma began with his lesson, Shikamaru began doing what he did best. He planned.

* * *

_**Meanwhile with Hinata…**_

Gaara gave Hinata's waist a quick squeeze before leaving her at her locker and heading to his next class.

The bluenette flashed a quick smile and grabbed what she needed from her locker. She remembered the way Naruto showed her, and made her way towards the Chemistry Lab. It was slightly easier to move since she was moving with the crowd instead of against it.

She entered the class before the warning bell rang and saw her new friends standing and talking around in the back. The petite girl bit her lip in thought as she made her way towards the back of the classroom.

She set her notebook on her assigned desk and gave Ino a smile when the bubbly blonde waved enthusiastically at her.

Ino jumped out of the group and gave Hinata a back breaking hug. She had only known her for a day but Ino could already tell that Hinata was the kind of person that you wanted to have as a friend. She rubbed her cheek against the bluenette.

"Hinata-chan! I missed you so much!"

Hinata giggled and pushed away. She gave her new friend a once over as a question popped into her mind.

"Ano, Ino-san?" she asked.

"No need for formalities, Hinata-chan," Ino interrupted as she waved her hand in dismissal. "We're friends, aren't we?"

Hinata smiled and nodded her head. "Okay then, Ino-chan," she corrected, "You wouldn't happen to be…Are you, ano…?"

Ino laughed as the petite girl stumbled over words becoming more and more flustered. She was just so cute! She winked at the bluenette as she answered, "I'm not a lesbian, Hina-chan," she paused for a second, "I'm bi."

Pale lavender eyes blinked. "O-Oh."

"Yeah, if you didn't have a boyfriend, I would've tried to get you. You're very cute."

Hinata smiled shyly as she blushed. "Ano, thanks."

There was a pause as Hinata tried to get her thoughts together. She bit her lip, mulling over how to present her question.

"Hey Sakura-san, Ino-chan?" she asked. Ino simply turned her head in attention while Sakura made her way over, leaving the boys to their own devices. The pink-haired girl took a subtle look around the classroom before giving Hinata her attention.

"You guys are friends with Sasuke-san, right?"

"Yeah, what's it to you?" Sakura internally winced as she unconsciously crossed her arms over her chest. That came out harsher than she meant to. Hinata blinked at her with slight astonishment and caution. Ino simply stared at her impassively; baby blue eyes sharp and calculating.

Hinata warily took in the slight changes in Sakura's body language. She licked her lips as the friendly air was replaced with thick tension. _The Uchiha must be a touchy topic. Proceed with caution._

"Gomen, Sakura-san, I didn't mean to offend." She held her hands in a passive gesture. "I'm not interested in Sasuke-san at all. Ano, I already have a boyfriend."

The warning bell rang loudly, cutting off the bluenette's ramble. Ino was still looking at Sakura, who in turn was looking towards the door with sudden interest, when she spoke. "Don't worry about it, Hinata-chan. Considering that Sasuke-kun is _single_, you're not necessarily stepping on anyone's toes. Right, Sakura-chan?"

Sakura forced a smile on her face and tried to relax her body with no success. "Right. Gomen, Hinata-chan, I didn't mean to snap off like that. It's just that I've known Sasuke for a while and I used to have a small crush on him. It's over now, though."

Hinata nodded slowly as Ino deliberately rolled her eyes. "Don't listen to her. She's as in love with the asshole as the day that she met him. Even though you have displayed obvious PDA with your delicious boyfriend, in her mind, everyone is after her _precious _Sasuke-kun. It's funny, actually, since he doesn't give a damn about her."

"Ano," Hinata interrupted; wary but still needing answers. "Ino-chan, I thought you liked Sasuke-san."

Ino ignored her pink-haired friend's emerald glare and turned her head towards Hinata. "Don't get me wrong, Hinata-chan. Sasuke-kun is a very fine specimen and if I had the chance to sleep with him, I would," she stated bluntly. "But, the dude is an asshole through and through. He doesn't give a damn about anyone but himself."

"That's not true!" Sakura hissed. It was true. Sasuke _did _care. Even if it wasn't about her, as much as she wished it to; he did care about Naruto. He just didn't know how to express it at times.

Hinata took a step back, her mouth forming into a frown. She didn't mean to cause a fight, but it seemed as if she had stumbled among an age-old feud. "Ano, guys?"

"You've only been here for a day and you're already causing problems, eh, Hinata-chan?"

The bluenette jumped slightly at the voice. She turned quickly to find Naruto standing behind her with his carefree grin on his face.

"I-I, ano, I d-didn't mean," she stumbled, only to pause at Naruto's laughter.

"Don't worry about it," he dismissed, staring at the two girls having a heated argument. "They do this all the time. So what was the fight about anyway?"

She turned towards him in thought. Not only was Naruto the _Kyuubi_, but he was also Sasuke's friend…or something close to it. He probably knew Sasuke the best. She bit her lip. Hinata was an expert at reading body language; therefore, she knew that Naruto was much smarter than he lead people to believe. It was the way his friends treated him. They would joke around with him, but at the same time, never try to cross him. Whatever Naruto wanted; he seemed to get it.

She subtly gave him a once over. If she began asking about Sasuke, she knew that Naruto might become a little suspicious about how much she actually knew, but maybe it didn't hurt to try.

"Ano, I was asking them if they were friends with Sasuke-san and Sakura-san became a little defensive." She looked at Naruto carefully, watching out for his reaction to her statement.

"Is that so?" he asked nonchalantly. The final bell rang and the students began to go to their seats. It seemed as if Sakura and Ino had reached a stalemate, although it looked like they weren't speaking to each other.

Hinata's brow furrowed in worry. She really didn't mean to cause any problems. _Seriously, _she thought exasperatedly, _I've only been here a day and I'm already starting fights._

"I wouldn't worry about it."

"Huh?"

Naruto gave her a small smile. "Sakura-chan and Ino have been best friends since before I knew them. This is completely normal. They'll be talking and joking by the end of the day."

He sighed softly, "And as for the Sasuke ordeal, I wouldn't bother asking her. Sakura-chan's been in love with Sasuke since the day we met her and she gets jealous easily."

"And what about you, Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked softly.

The blonde didn't get a chance to answer when Anko burst through the door. "Alright, my lovely minions, here's the lesson for today."

* * *

The rest of the class passed rather quickly. Hinata stuffed her notebook in her backpack when the bell rang, signaling the end of the lesson. The bluenette slid off of her stool and headed toward the doorway.

She barely withheld a jump when a voice whispered in her ear. "You know, Hinata-chan, if you needed information on Sasuke, you could have just asked me or went straight to the source. He's pretty blunt with his answers. Why the sudden interest in Sasuke anyway?"

Hinata turned to face him, mouth open in surprise. Sharp blue eyes regarded her calmly as he waited for her answer. The bluenette calmly returned the stare. If she could face off against Gaara and lived to tell the tale, then she could definitely handle a suspicious Naruto.

She gave an innocent smile and shrugged her shoulders. "He doesn't seem to like Gaara and we're going to be here for awhile, so…" she shrugged again.

They had reached Hinata's locker before Naruto spoke again. "Sasuke doesn't trust Sabaku." He crossed his arms against his chest and leaned against the locker. "But you already know the reason, right?"

Hinata resisted the urge to narrow her eyes. So this was the _Kyuubi. _Neither noticed the subject of the conversation step away from the busy crowd and pull up beside them.

"I may be the former leader's girl, but I am _no _one's_ nagaremono. _You do understand that, right? I'm not an idiot and I understand the necessary and basic things, so it seems to me that you might want to keep your _seinn_ in check, ne?"

Naruto gave her a big grin although his azure eyes remained sharp. "What makes you think I control them?"

Hinata closed her mouth with a click. _Shit._

"Is there a problem?"

"Hey, Gaara," said Naruto cheerfully.

"Uzumaki," the red-head responded as he wrapped his arm possessively around Hinata's waist. Hinata remained silent as she absently watched the two leaders interact, lost in her own thoughts. _How could I be so stupid? I knew he was going to get suspicious if I started asking questions, but I did it anyway. That was stupid! Stupid, stupid, stupid!_

She snapped out of her thoughts when Gaara began walking in the direction of the cafeteria, pulling her with him. She looked around and finally noticed that Naruto was nowhere to be found.

"What?" she asked dumbly as they walked past the cafeteria and into a vacant room. She looked around, absently noticing that there was a broken desk lying in the corner.

"What are we doing in here?" she asked.

Gaara crossed his arms against his chest and stared impassively at her. "It seems that I was the only person listening to the conversation last night," his voice stated, carefully neutral.

Hinata looked away from him further pissing the red-head off. "Look at me, damn it!" he growled angrily. "You're acting like a fucking brat, you know that?"

He didn't even blink as he caught her wrist when the frustrated girl tried to punch him in the face. Her face was completely flushed in anger; her breathing coming out in shallow pants. Her lavender eyes glowed in rage as she unsuccessfully tried to remove her hand from her boyfriend's iron grip.

"What right do you have to talk to me that way?" she hissed, trying to prevent her voice from breaking. The bluenette blinked her eyes hard, horrified that the tears were starting to come. She was frustrated and felt humiliated at the way he was treating her.

Gaara dragged her body against the wall and pinned her with his strength. His eyes flashed angrily. "Actually, _Muzai_," he whispered fiercely in her ear, "I have _every_ fucking right. You don't seem to get it do you? I had to go through _fucking_ hell and back just to keep _you _safe and this is how you repay me?"

Hinata closed her eyes and her lips tilted downwards. She opened her mouth, but flinched instead when a fist met the wall beside her. Her eyes widened when she met Gaara's intense gaze.

"No; you are going to listen to everything I say, since you obviously were not listening last night. I already told you to stay away from Uzumaki -."

"You didn't tell me that last night," she protested.

"LISTEN!" he roared, his eyes glowing brilliantly in rage. _Beautiful,_ she thought, her mind in a daze.

"Hey, what's going on in there?" Gaara and Hinata snapped their heads towards the door as they watched the door handle twist. Gaara turned back towards Hinata, taking in deep breaths. He still had her pinned when he leaned in close. "I'll deal with you later," he stated flatly before capturing her lips roughly.

Someone cleared their throat, causing Hinata and Gaara to break apart. The red-head kept his gaze on Hinata even though she turned her head away from him and faced the person standing in the doorway.

She was one of the female teachers of the school; Kurenai, if Hinata remembered correctly. She was her History teacher and she had her after lunch. The woman had dark wavy hair, exotic red eyes, and full lips painted with ruby red lipstick. She had her arms crossed over her chest and was staring disapprovingly at the couple across the room. "Hinata-kun, correct?"

The girl didn't have the energy to blush as she nodded. Gaara stayed silent. He remained in his position; his body lightly pinning Hinata against the wall.

The young woman nodded her head although her eyes were still narrowed in disapproval at their current position. She took a step inside the classroom and turned her attention towards Gaara. "And you would be?" she asked.

Gaara didn't answer, his gaze still focused on Hinata. Instead, he took a step back and calmly walked out the classroom without saying a word.

Kurenai grit her teeth at the boy's rudeness. "Was he harassing you, Hinata-kun?"

Hinata shook her head numbly. _He's really pissed at me. _"No, Kurenai-sensei, he wasn't harassing me. That was Gaara and he's the other new student. We were just talking."

"More than just talking from the look of it when I walked in," Kurenai concluded to herself. "Nevertheless, this room is a place for education, understand?" she asked firmly.

"Of course, Kurenai-sensei," the bluenette murmured as she made her way out the door and towards the cafeteria for the rest of her lunch period.

Kurenai watched her leave. Something was going on before she had walked in and interrupted. She shook her long black hair, dismissing her thoughts. It wasn't really her business although she did feel slightly concerned for the new girl. She seemed like a sweet person, but from the look of it, she may have gotten mixed up in the wrong crowd. It could have been from her times in Suna. Kurenai dismissed her thoughts once more and began to get ready for her lesson.

* * *

_Muzai _- innocence

_nagaremono_ - tramp

_seinn_ - active member

AN/ Sooo please let me know what you guys think. Don't be afraid to be brutal, if you're confused or not enjoying it, or you have an idea you think I can use...doesn't matter what it is, I'm all ears/eyes. =)

For those who have read, reviewed, or alerted to me or my work...Thank you so much, it gives me great motivation

Until next time,

Tw33ty JR.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

AN/ Special Thanks to _**kurenai cakes, HinawithLove, SarcasticScript, BookFan22 a.k.a GwenFan22, Summond Shadow Fox, and SerenityKiaruSkye; **_I also want to thank _**je suis folle de toi and Refrigerator-Burn **_for reviewing in Chapter 5…Thank you so much for reviewing, I'm glad you guys are enjoying the story as much as I enjoy writing it =)

And for those who have alerted and favored this story, I'm glad you guys are enjoying it as well!

I apologize for the sporadic updates, but I learned that that is my style. *shrugs* I don't really write on a schedule, I do it when I have time….So just know that you will always get an update…it could be in a week or a month, but you will _always _get an update until I deemed this story finished…Mmkay, enough of my groveling, Onward!

Sooo what can I say to prepare you for this chapter? Enjoy the ride!

* * *

Hinata walked into the cafeteria in a slight daze. She bit her lip in worry, wondering where Gaara went. Now looking back, she felt ashamed at how the 'conversation' went. She was usually patient, but for some reason she completely lost her cool.

She shook her head miserably. _I really screwed up. _The way the red-head looked at her in the empty classroom; ice slid down into her stomach as she suppressed a shiver. If she had been anybody else, she would have been dead.

Hinata closed her eyes and sat down where her new friends were. She didn't even realize her actions as she continued to wallow in self-pity. Gaara was beyond pissed with her and she was pretty sure that Naruto, and not to mention, Sasuke would be watching her carefully from now on.

She was startled by some fingers snapping in her face. She subtly clenched her hands when she noticed Ino staring at her, baby blue eyes holding a little concern. "Hey, are you alright, Hina-chan? I've been trying to get your attention for a while."

Hinata forced a smile upon her lips. "Gomen, Ino-chan, I'm just a little distracted, is all."

Ino narrowed her eyes suspiciously before shrugging as a dismissal of the topic. "Anyway, where were you? I was looking for you for, like, ten minutes."

The bluenette shrugged, laughing slightly, although it sounded miserable to her own ears. "Ano, I got a little lost. I guess I'm still not used to the area yet."

"Is your yummy boyfriend joining us today?"

Hinata lowered her eyes and unconsciously bit her lip. "No."

* * *

Gaara was currently seeing red. The scenery was a blur as he rode, top speed, on his motorcycle. He didn't know where he was going, nor did he care. All he knew was that he needed to get out of that place before he ended up hurting somebody.

His thoughts turned toward Hinata and what took place inside the classroom. She was getting cocky with him because she knew that he would never hurt her. His hands clenched tightly on his handlebars as his thoughts continued. She was the _only_ one that he allowed to treat him that way without consequences. Now, she was taking things too far. Did she seriously think he was going to let her get away with trying to take things into her own hands?

She didn't even know the half of it.

The red-head sharply turned a corner and began driving down an alley. He continued down the narrow road, ignoring how the entrance seemed to close like a gate.

* * *

Naruto parked outside his favorite restaurant, and for a minute, just sat there as the engine rumbled. He took a deep breath and held it in. He let it out in a huge sigh as he ran his hands through his unruly blonde hair.

He lazily turned his head towards the window and waved his hand in the air.

"Put that thing out, Shikamaru. Are you trying to suffocate me?"

Shikamaru slowly pulled on his cigarette before flicking it out the open window. He exhaled slowly, releasing the intoxicating smoke from his lungs.

"Who am I talking to?" Shikamaru asked, completely serious. He absently wondered if they were even going to eat as the blonde continued to look out of the window.

Naruto leaned his head back against the head rest and chuckled softly under his breath. "It wouldn't be fun if I told you, Shika-kun."

The brunette sighed tiredly. "What do you want, Naruto?" he paused, "And what do you need, _Kyuubi_?"

The leader smirked and shook his head as if they were sharing an inside joke. "Shika," he dragged out, "You act as if there's another person in the car."

The genius simply closed his eyes in annoyance and anxiety. If _something _didn't happen, he was going to lose it. "Please, Naruto," he pleaded shamelessly, "What information do you need from me?"

When he didn't receive an answer, he reluctantly turned his head to see why his companion was being unusually silent only to find that Naruto had disappeared. Shikamaru blinked for a moment; he didn't even hear the car door open. He sighed as he got out of the car and slowly made his way inside the famous noodle restaurant, _Ichirakus_.

He wasn't surprised when he saw Naruto sitting at the booth, stuffing his face with ramen. The brunette lazily took a seat beside him just as Naruto set his bowl down after slurping down the last of the broth.

"That was awesome, Ayame-nee! One more miso please! The pretty looking waitress nodded her head and smiled, used to Naruto's high spirit and his appetite.

Once the waitress left, it was just them sitting at the booth.

The place wasn't empty but bare enough to hold an important conversation without any eavesdroppers.

Naruto turned towards his companion while resting his head on his propped arm. Shikamaru resisted the urge to fidget as ice blue eyes casually stripped his defenses, making him vulnerable.

"Rank."

It was more of a demand than a question. The words were out his mouth before he could consciously process the word.

"_Kumori_, _Kyuubi's_ second-in-command of the gang, _Kyuubi_."

"Charge."

"Challenging my leader and questioning his methods."

Naruto smirked slightly, "Punishment."

Shikamaru grit his teeth to suppress his irritation and his anger. He was pretty laidback, but when angry…it was like a monsoon. "Stripped, bared, and challenged."

The leader turned away from him and properly thanked Ayame for his second bowl. "Thanks, Ayame nee-chan, you're the best! Tell the old man that I'll be ready for more after school."

Ayame giggled in response. "Will do, Naruto-kun."

Shikamaru watched the interaction. It still amazed him, sometimes, how flawlessly his leader could change personalities so quickly.

Many people would claim it to be MPD or Multiple Person Disorder, but the brunette knew better.

The waitress walked away and once again, they were left all alone with silence as their companion.

The blonde took a quick glance at the clock before digging into his meal. Shikamaru released a sigh as he waited for Naruto to speak.

"So much to talk about and so little time," Naruto murmured as he quickly finished his bowl. "I suppose we could finish this after school, but you're going to be busy aren't you?" Shikamaru remained silent.

Naruto continued on as if nothing was wrong. "Well, let's start with business. Gaara."

This time, he didn't feel the urge to spill out whatever was in his brain. He was allowed to process the word before carefully speaking his opinion. "Everything he has told you is the truth, but he isn't telling you everything. He's hiding something big," Shikamaru stated seriously. His head may have been down for most of that meeting yesterday, but he was subtly observing their temporary ally. So while Gaara was cursing out Naruto and insulting Sasuke, Shikamaru simply observed his body language and reactions.

When he asked about Hinata, it was miniscule, but Gaara had paused for a second before answering the question. He wasn't lying when he claimed they came down here as a request, but once again, he seemed to have left something out. There was just something that he didn't understand. Gaara was the most feared leader in Suna and suddenly he was never allowed to step foot in it?

"He's hiding something really big," the genius repeated softly. "It might be something that could affect us all; we're going to have to find out what it is."

Naruto nodded his head in confirmation. "Alright, and what do you think about Hinata?"

Shikamaru's lips twisted slightly before answering, "What about her?"

Tattooed whiskers crinkled as the blonde laughed loudly at the question. "I never took you as a comedian, Shika, but you're pretty funny." He took another glance at the clock and set the money on the counter.

He hopped off of his seat with Shikamaru obediently following after him. He threw his arm up as a goodbye, "See you later, Nee-chan, tell the Old Man to have a huge bowl of Chicken waiting for me."

"Alright, Naruto-kun!"

Ice blue eyes pinned chocolate brown with a stare. "I don't need to repeat myself, do I?"

Shikamaru shook his head and sighed. "I'm not sure what to make of Hinata-san. From what you're telling me, she seems to be doing things on her own." His brows furrowed in thought, "She might actually be a _seinn_."

Naruto's turned his head sharply at the information. "That's not possible. The only females associated with gangs are _nagaremonos._"

"What other explanation do you have? The past couple years have been a blank concerning _Shukaku_ due to the…absence of our spy," Shikamaru shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe Sabaku decided to switch things up just to fuck with people."

The leader remained quiet as his _Shadow_ continued with his explanation. "I mean think about it, she would be perfect for assassinations. No one would expect a thing; when they see her, they would either expect her as a gift or that she belongs to the leader."

The genius trailed off his brows furrowed, his mind trying to put pieces together, "Wait a minute, wasn't there a big uproar in Kumokagure a couple years ago? Their leader had mysteriously died after inviting _Shukaku_ for some sort of conference over territory."

Naruto nodded his head, his face becoming grave. "Autopsy claimed it was a heart attack, so no one bothered to lay suspicion on _Shukaku_. There was no evidence, so he couldn't be blamed, but the Kumo's gang wasn't satisfied and wanted blood."

"Yeah, they ended up killing a couple of _Shukaku's_ members before he wiped out half of them. You're missing the key thing though. Everyone was questioning Sabaku and his crew, but no one ever thought to ask the female. No one so much as blinked an eye at Hinata."

The blonde turned to Shikamaru. "You actually think Hinata was capable of killing him? She doesn't seem like a cold-blooded murderer."

Shikamaru gave him a small sneer, "You've only known her for a day and you have her all figured out, don't you? We're all fucking teenagers; do any of us look like murderers?"

"I see your point. So we know that Sabaku is hiding something and that Hinata might be -."

Naruto's phone vibrated interrupted both their thought processes. "What?" he greeted.

_Kyuubi-sama, we have a situation. _The person on the line quickly gave his position before abruptly hanging up.

The blonde stared at the phone before getting out of the car; the address wasn't too far from where they were. He tossed Shikamaru the keys before heading down the sidewalk.

"Wait!" Shikamaru shouted in exasperation, "Where are you going? Class starts in 10 minutes!"

"It's business. You're going to have to cover for me."

"Whatever," the brunette sighed, "And the information? What do you want me to do with that?"

His leader stopped walking but didn't bother to turn around. "I want you to keep working on it. For now, this stays between you and me; no need to cause unnecessary violence and chaos." And with that statement, he was gone.

He sighed as he threw his hands in the air as a sign of defeat. "Troublesome," he muttered as he sat down in the front seat and started the car. He cursed softly when an unexpected knock reached his ears. His nerves were on edge lately.

"Hey Shikamaru-kun, I almost forgot," Ayame said cheerfully when he rolled down the window. "You didn't eat anything so I decided to make you a bowl in case you get…Ano, where did Naruto-kun go?"

"He wanted to see if he could beat the bell by running," the genius lied smoothly. "You know how he is. Thanks for the bowl; how much do I owe you?"

Ayame waved dismissively and gave him a bright smile. "It's on the house. I hope you enjoy it and enjoy the rest of your day," she stated happily before heading back inside the restaurant.

Shikamaru snorted softly as he watched her walk inside. "I wish," he replied before backing out and driving swiftly back to the school grounds.

* * *

Lunch had passed along with her free period. Hinata sat in Kurenai's class staring at her blank notebook. Class had started twenty minutes ago and she had yet to write anything down. She was too distracted.

Gaara hadn't come back yet.

She knew he was pissed, but she didn't think he would skip school all together. The bluenette snorted mentally. _Of course he would. _Gaara had never really been into the academics. He had claimed school as a "waste of fucking time and energy."

He only started getting serious about school after they had Murasaki.

She would always remember the day she gave birth to her beautiful daughter.

_The red-head was holding his newborn daughter gently and his aquamarine eyes were bright with pride and unconditional love. He had turned to Hinata, who was lying in the bed exhausted._

"_She's absolutely beautiful," he murmured in slight awe. The baby looked completely fragile in his hands as he continued to rock her gently. He couldn't believe that he helped create this innocent miracle. After all the things that he had done, he never thought he would live to see this day. He never thought he deserved the opportunity._

_Hinata's eyes were closed as she rested her body. She was on the edge of unconsciousness but was awake enough to hear the one-sided conversation between father and daughter._

_Gaara stared at his daughter. He had a daughter. Him! The most powerful and feared leader in all of Suna had helped to create this fragile beautiful little being full of innocence. He carefully sat down in the chair beside the bed and took a quick glance towards his Muzai. She seemed to be fast asleep; good. Out of everyone, Hinata needed to rest the most._

_It had been a stressful day and the adrenaline still had not completely left Gaara's veins. It was the second time that he could ever remember being scared in his whole life. _

_The newborn squirmed a bit in his hold before opening her eyes. His heart skipped a beat when he looked into his eyes just like his. Peace and pride washed over him so quickly that it was almost overwhelming._

_He took a deep breath as his daughter continued to stare in innocent curiosity. "You gave us quite a scare," he murmured quietly, almost a whisper. "You're not even a day old and you have brought the great Shukaku to his knees."_

"_I swear on this day to always protect you, guide you, and help you. Never be afraid to come to me when you're in trouble. Know that I will always be by your side even when I'm not there. Your joy is my joy and your pain is mine. On this day, I swear to you."_

_He paused slightly. "This isn't the life I want for you and your kaa-chan. I will die before I see the day that you're taken as a nagaremono; you deserve much more than that; just like Muzai. I'm going to get us out of here and I'm going to graduate. You and your kaa-chan are going to live normal lives." He tightened his hold on his daughter slightly. At some point during his speech, Murasaki had fallen back asleep. He continued anyway._

"_And know that if any boy so much as looks at you, I'll kill them." He was silent for a few moments before speaking again, "I love you, Murasaki, my daughter. I may not say it often, but know that every action I do is for you and your mother. This is not the life you should have been born into, so I am going to give you the life you deserve; I promise."_

_He placed a kiss against her soft skin as he continued to rock._

Hinata was abruptly taken away from her thoughts when a book slammed on to her desk. She ignored her classmates' laughter, too distracted to be embarrassed, and turned towards the teacher standing beside her.

Kurenai had one hand on her hip and the other hand to silence her class. "Am I boring you, Hinata-kun?"

"Of c-course not, Kurenai-sensei," Hinata replied in a low tone.

"That's wonderful. Well then, you wouldn't mind going to up to the board to solve the equation for the class."

Hinata slowly got up from her chair and walked up to the board. She looked at the equation for a few seconds before writing. She went through as much as she could before stopping. She turned and faced her peers and addressed her teacher. "That's all I know."

Kurenai nodded. "Very good, you got really far. You may return to your seat, but I would like to see you after class. I will write you a note so you'll be excused."

Hinata nodded her head in understanding. She tried to focus on the lesson through the rest of the class, but her thoughts kept wandering on the whereabouts of where Gaara could be. She really hoped he wouldn't do anything rash.

Gaara was usually calm and calculated in everything he did, but when he was pushed over the edge, he became…unstable.

She returned to the present just in time to hear the bell rang. She gathered her books, but remained in her seat as the room cleared. The other students were laughing and joking as they leisurely made their way to the next class.

Hinata felt a pang of longing. There were times where she wished she was like one of them. They didn't have a care in the world and they're biggest problem was what to wear to prom or trying to find a job.

Then she would think about her daughter and Gaara, and realize she wouldn't trade what she had for anything. If she had never met Gaara then she would have never had her daughter or even met her most loyal and lifelong friends. Just thinking about them made her miss them.

She made her way to Kurenai's desk when the last person made their way out. "You wanted to see me, Kurenai-sensei?"

The red-eyed beauty looked up from her desk. "Yes. I wanted to talk to you about the…incident during the lunch hour."

The bluenette clenched her hands tightly around her books before relaxing. "I told you before; we were just talking."

"It looked like a lot more than talking. It seemed as if he had you pinned against the wall. Is he your boyfriend, Hinata-kun?"

"Yes," she answered warily. Where was she going with this?

"Has he ever," the teacher paused and forced herself to stop fidgeting with her day planner, "Has he ever hurt you, Hinata-kun?"

For some reason, Hinata had the strangest urge to laugh; laugh long and laugh hard. She was asking if she was being abused?

"Gaara-kun would never hurt me," she stated with absolute confidence.

Kurenai looked skeptical, "I want to help you. You don't seem like the type of person to hang out with people like him."

Hinata frowned at that statement. Who was she to get in her business and predetermine who she should hang out with? This woman knew nothing about her. She didn't know about the shit her and Gaara had been through, she didn't know the events that made her who she was, hell, this woman didn't know that she could snap her neck before she even realized she walked behind her. Hinata opened her mouth and for a split second, the classroom tilted.

"_Your family comes first and we are your family. We will protect you just as you will protect us. We will do anything to keep you safe and vice versa, but your main job is to protect your leader from anything that may harm him. Do whatever you have to do. Do you understand?"_

"…_Yes, I understand."_

Hinata blinked and her expression changed. Her lavender eyes became blank, she unconsciously straightened her posture, and her lips tilted up slightly. She wasn't Hinata anymore; this was _Muzai._

Kurenai also blinked and shifted uncomfortably as the hair on the back of her neck rose up. Something about Hinata changed. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she had the urge to run and get as far away as possible from the person standing in front of her. Subconsciously, the red-eyed teacher knew she was in danger.

"No offense, Kurenai-san," (did her voice become a little lower?), "but I don't know you and you do not know anything about me. Like you said before, this is a place for education. Who I decide to hang out with and talk to is my business and my business alone. I don't want or need your help." _Muzai_ leaned towards Kurenai and felt some twisted satisfaction when the woman leaned back in slight fear. "Really, Kurenai-san, you should know to never judge a book by its cover. I won't need an excuse slip; I'm not feeling good, so I'm going to head to the nurse's office. Thanks for the nice intervention; see you tomorrow."

When Hinata left the room, Kurenai released the breath that she had unconsciously been holding. She sat immobile for a few minutes as she tried to wrap her mind over what the hell had actually happened. She laughed slightly at the way she had acted. _Why was I so frightened? It wasn't like she was actually going to kill me._ The red-eyed beauty sighed as she gathered her things for the next class and made her way out the classroom door. She forcefully ignored how her hands shook the whole time.

* * *

Naruto casually made his way down the alley, whistling notes that only seemed to make sense in his mind. He stopped when he reached the middle. He tilted his head to the side as he spoke, "Speak."

A distorted voice that seemed to come out from all angles replied. "_Kyuubi-sama_, there seems to have been a…situation."

Naruto took a look around the alley walls, not the least bit disturbed by the decoration. He tried not to breathe too deeply as he continued his short investigation.

"These walls needed a new color anyway, though I would have gone with orange," he joked to himself.

"Show yourself," _Kyuubi_ called out to the shadows. "There's no need to be shy; I won't bite."

A young man around the age of twenty seemed to magically appear from the shadows and stepped in front of his leader. He was wearing dark blue jeans and a simple fitted black T-shirt. He had a silver chain with what looked to be engraved symbols on it, wrapped loosely around his neck. On the right side of his neck laid a small tattoo. His long white hair was held in a loose ponytail which allowed a long wiry scar, starting from his left ear and wrapping partly around his neck before disappearing down his shirt, to show.

He had a serious expression on his face as he lowered his eyes submissively and tilted his head slightly to show his mark.

"My apologies, _Kyuubi-sama_," he reported without fear. "I just needed to make sure it was you and not an imposter."

Naruto waved his hand dismissively, "No worries, Shinkan-kun. And I told you to stop calling me that; it makes me feel old. We're friends, right?"

Shinkan rolled his eyes at his leader's complete disregard for formality, but complied none the less. His stance relaxed as he casually dug his hands into the front pocket of his jeans. He rested his lean frame against a part of the brick wall that wasn't painted in red.

"Report," Naruto demanded as he made his way towards the first body…if it could even be called that. It was so wrangled that it was completely undistinguishable.

"Three bodies. Two completely undistinguishable and unidentifiable. The third one has three broken ribs, a broken leg, lacerations down her neck, arms, and back, and a head wound; she survived…just barely."

The gang leader nodded his head in comprehension as he made his way to the next body. It was the same result. The face was completely mangled and it seemed to be missing a few limbs. He remained silent; a sign for Shinkan to continue.

"If you look closely, there are several holes in them, as if they had been impaled, but not enough to actually kill them. For the first one you looked at, it was as if someone simply twisted him like a cloth with water and he remained that way. That was his cause of death. For the second one, the perpetrator showed a little mercy, if you can call it that. They fucked up his face and ripped both of his arms and a leg off before impaling him in the heart."

Shinkan paused for a breath as Naruto slowly made his way towards the third and final victim. She was lying face down on her stomach, the angry jagged marks on her back clearly being shown. Her clothes were pretty much destroyed, not leaving much to the imagination. Naruto scanned her in a detached way; his face was blank and his vibrant blue eyes devoid of any emotions. If he had been anybody else, he would have already emptied his stomach and gotten the hell out of there. If he had been anyone else, he would have already presumed her dead, but the short, barely noticeable breaths, showed that she was still holding on.

"The third one," Shinkan said, continuing with his report, "is a _nagaremono. _Whether she belonged to one of these guys or someone else is unknown. We'll be able to get some answers out of her if she wakes up."

"Do they even belong to me? I don't recognize the girl," Naruto stated as he turned to look at his friend, "Any ideas of who could have done it?"

The white ponytail swayed lazily as Shinkan shook his head. "No, they were not one of us; there was a Heaven's mark on the left side of all their necks." He looked unflinchingly into his leader's eyes before speaking once more. "They belong to Orochimaru, _Oto's _gang."

Naruto remained calm on the outside, though he mentally flinched. It wasn't the words that had caused the reaction, but _how_ his _seinn _said it. He held his gaze before striking green eyes slid to the side, lids halfway down. He sighed wearily before dismissing the last few moments. That was another problem for another day. He had enough to deal with.

"Answer," Naruto demanded, regarding to his previous unanswered question.

Shinkan didn't fight the pull as he complied, "Whoever it was, they were pretty powerful to take down three people singlehandedly."

"What makes you think it was only one person? There are multiple footprints everywhere," Naruto interrupted as he scanned the blood soaked ground.

"I analyzed the scene and saw the battle," was the vague reply, but it was enough.

Naruto nodded his head as a sign to continue. "The killer was really pissed."

"What makes you say that?" the blonde asked.

"Simple. The girl is alive. He was clearly toying with them and in a sense, using them as a way to vent his frustration. He must have calmed down before killing her or I would have no doubt that she would have been an addition to the count."

"You think it was a he?"

The young man shrugged his shoulders. "No. I was just sick of saying 'them'."

Their musings were interrupted by a moan. Naruto and Shinkan turned their heads to the source. The only survivor of the massacre groaned once more as she tried to get her bearings together. A gasping scream left her dry lips as she realized that moving simply was not an option if she didn't want to black out again.

"Well, would you look at that? She lives." She stiffened when she heard a deep voice. She couldn't escape if she wanted to. A whimper of pain and fear caught in her throat as deceptively gentle hands turned her over. Whoever they were, what were they going to do her? They would probably kill her or do worse. She wasn't stupid; she knew that she wasn't on her home turf.

She couldn't hold back the sharp cry of pain that escaped her mouth when she felt herself being lifted. No matter how gentle they were trying to be, it was excruciating. The last thing she saw before the pain became too much was deep blue eyes.

Naruto stared impassively at the blood-covered girl in his arms. He looked around him once more before looking at his _seinn._ "Gather a team and clean this shit up. Dispose of the bodies and hose down the alley. We're just lucky we found this before the cops did."

"When we find the killer, will he be taken care of?"

Naruto paused before responding. "I will take care of him. He didn't harm one of mine and if we have found them before he did, they would have all ended up in the same position; dead. We need to find him because we don't know what his motives are and the method that he used to kill them. In my opinion, they were simply at the wrong place at the wrong time."

Shinkan nodded his head in understanding. "You know who it is, do you not?"

Naruto gave him a feral grin. "I have my suspicions. Do you have a car? I walked here and _Kumori_ has my car."

The white-haired man closed his eyes. After a few moments, he opened them back up before speaking, "There is a car waiting for you at the entrance. You have one hour."

"You have thirty minutes." Shinkan nodded his head in understanding before he seemingly melted into the shadows.

Naruto heaved a sigh and looked down at the unconscious girl in his arms. _Great, another problem to add to my list. _He made his way towards the alley entrance taking care not to jostle the severely injured girl.

He carefully strapped her into the borrowed car and, after making sure she was secure, drove to his apartment. He made his way inside, grateful that no one had stepped out and started to ask questions.

He brought her into his small bedroom and began to carefully examine her wounds. Modesty was not option, (although her clothes were already destroyed); he stripped her down to make sure he didn't miss anything while he bandaged her wounds. He did the best he could and once he was finished, he quietly made his way out the door, shutting it behind him.

"No matter how you put it," he murmured as he picked up his phone, "Today was your lucky day."

The phone rang for a few seconds before someone picked up. The person on the other end didn't speak and simply waited for his leader's request.

"I need a doctor and a tracker. You have one hour. Move."

* * *

The tension was high during the last period. Due to Karin's performance the day before, everyone was required to participate in Gai's…light workout. By the end of the hour, pretty much all the girls and some of the guys were glaring daggers at Karin.

No one was commenting except through glances and whispers. There were three people missing from their class and it seemed as if everyone had a different reason why they weren't there. Hey, that was high school for you.

Ino's baby blue eyes moved side to side, searching for her friend. She was mildly concerned of where Hinata could have gone. Although she had done most of the talking, she knew the bluenette was completely distracted at lunch.

Sakura gave a questioning look at Ino before sneaking a small glance at Sasuke. Maybe he knew where those three disappeared to. Hinata, Gaara, and Naruto; all three of them were missing their last class? It couldn't be a coincidence. Her brows furrowed as her thoughts continued to swirl around in her head. Ever since Gaara and Hinata arrived, the tension around this place completely sky rocketed.

Sasuke was pissed. He went through the work out with fervor because if he concentrated on that, then he wouldn't have to think. He didn't want to think; he didn't want to admit that he felt left behind. Why wasn't Naruto here? Where did Gaara and his little _nagaremono_ run off to? He clenched his teeth in frustration and ignored the pained twinge in his hand; Shikamaru hadn't given him any answers when he had cornered him.

_Shikamaru chuckled under his breath as he calmly made his way to his last class. "And what are you going to do if I don't tell you, hm?"_

_Sasuke sneered and made a grab for him. Onyx eyes widened as his hand wrapped around air. He snapped his head to his right to see Shikamaru casually standing next to him. Sharp brown eyes stared him down before he continued his walk. Reluctantly, Sasuke matched his steps._

"_Let's get something straight, Uchiha. I don't give a damn about you and I really don't give a shit about your temper tantrums. What goes on between me and Naruto stays between me and Naruto unless he says so. If he wants to tell you, then that's his problem."_

"_And what is that supposed to mean?"_

"_Oh, so you want to play stupid?" Shikamaru asked as he stopped in front of his classroom. The warning bell had just ringed, but Shikamaru and Sasuke stayed right where they were. They ignored the looks and whispers. It was unusual for them to be seen together. "No one trusts you, Uchiha. You. Are. A. Traitor. You think you're one of us because Naruto let you back in? Don't fucking kid yourself."_

_The genius internally smirked at Sasuke's blank expression. The latter took a step back as he began to clench and unclench his fist in rage. "Just know that though we may be allies, none of us, save Naruto, would risk our lives to save your sorry ass. You want information? Find Naruto and ask him your fucking self."_

_With that last statement, Shikamaru headed inside the classroom, leaving Sasuke staring blankly at the wall. He sat down and leaned his head back as an outward smirk showed on his face. The sound of a fist hitting the lockers was like music to his ears._

* * *

Sasuke took a deep breath taking in the intoxicating smoke. He held it in for a moment before exhaling, the smoke coming out of his mouth. It was the end of the school and although he had detention, he didn't bother to make his way there. Screw detention.

He withheld a sigh as he took another drag of his cigarette. "What do you want, Sakura?"

Sakura, who had been debating on whether she should try to talk to him or not, winced. She forced a small laugh as she made her way over. "I could never sneak up on you, Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke didn't bother with a response. He took another lungful of smoke and exhaled slowly.

The pink-haired girl fidgeted at the sight. "I didn't know you smoked."

"You don't know a lot of things about me. Now, I will ask you again, what do you want?"

Sakura bit her lip at his tone; her green eyes looking towards him sadly. "I was just wondering if you saw Naruto. Ano, he didn't show up in P.E. Come to think of it, Gaara-san and Hinata-chan weren't there either."

Sasuke's lean frame stayed in his position as he continued to smoke his cancer stick. "And how," he exhaled a cloud of smoke, "is that any of your concern, Sakura?"

"Why do you do that?"

Inhale. "Do what?"

"Why do you continue to push me away?"

Exhale. "That would intend that I actually feel something for you, Sakura."

Sakura bit her lip anxiously. She didn't know why she bothered, but there was just something about him that made her want to help. When he had disappeared, for some reason, she had felt so worried, but Naruto had helped her through it. She would never forget the night they both came back. They never bothered to give her the details, not even when she tried to coax Naruto out of it. That was the first time he had actually snapped at her and told her to stay out of it.

"I just want to help you, Sasuke-kun. I-I lo-."

"You don't even understand what that word means. You only love the idea of me," his smooth voice interrupted quietly. He threw his cigarette on the ground before stepping on it. He walked past her still frame as he made his way off the school grounds. "You want to help me, Sakura? How about you leave me the hell alone and stop using Naruto as your rebound." He heard a small sniffle, but continued to keep walking. "You should listen to what your friends have been saying about me," he continued, "I don't give a damn about anyone but myself."

* * *

Once again, Temari apologized profusely, as another glass bowl was thrown past her head. She closed her eyes as a screaming voice from the background pierced through her skull.

"Did something happen?" The dirty blonde's manager asked; her brows furrowed in concern. She had fallen in love with Murasaki the first time that Temari had brought her to the set. The little girl was a good baby and they usually could do their job easily without too many distractions from the adorable girl. "Did she get into something that she wasn't supposed to? Is she hurt?"

Temari winced as another decoration smashed onto the set followed by a set of furious screams and unintelligible babble. "I'm not sure," she stated with more calm than she felt. "I'm going to take her home. I'm so sorry about the decorations, Yugao-san. I promise to replace them."

Yugao shook her head in dismissal and her thin lips curled into a worried frown. "Don't worry about it. Just let me know when she calms down. I'm worried she's going to make herself sick."

The dirty blonde nodded her head gratefully and firmly picked her niece up. "Shhh, it's okay, Mura-chan," she murmured soothingly as she tried to console the screaming child. She continued to rock and bounce the little girl as she tried to ignore the ice that slid into her stomach. Something was wrong.

Everything was going fine. Murasaki was playing in the playpen and soaking in the attention of some the models that were taking a break. She was smiling and laughing as she played with the blocks her aunt had given her.

Temari was in the middle of a swimwear shoot when the screaming started. It had terrified the employees causing everyone to jump. Temari's heart had leapt into her throat as she raced towards the source of the piercing noise.

"What happened?" she asked fiercely unintentionally glaring at the models.

"W-We don't kn-know," one stammered fearfully. "She was perfectly fine. She hadn't even moved when she just starting screaming, I swear!"

Murasaki's face was completely red as tears and snot ran down her face. Her eyes were scrunched close and her mouth was wide open. Deep wrenching sobs intervened with ear-piercing screams made their way out of the little girl's throat as she thrashed her body around. She was trying to say something, but couldn't get it around the other noises.

Then her anger came through. Murasaki was a fierce little devil when pissed. She was screaming words only she could understand while picking up and throwing anything that was in reach. She would then switch to the crying and the process would repeat itself.

Temari was brought back in reality when a tiny fist hit against her cheek. "No Murasaki," she said firmly.

She clashed with sharp aquamarine eyes so much like her brother. They welled with tears and her bottom lip trembled.

"Want Chichi!" Murasaki cried as she tried to wriggle from her aunt's grip.

"Chichi's not here, Mura-chan. We'll see him soon, okay?"

"No!" she screamed and began sobbing hysterically. "Need Chichi now! Need Chichi now! No you!" Murasaki bit Temari's shoulder and violently pulled her blonde locks, but Temari being used to these tantrums, didn't even flinch.

The model was just glad there wasn't an audience. She really wasn't in the mood of getting unwanted advice on what to do; she knew how handle her niece. She had already made her way to her car, bags in one hand and hysterical child in the other.

It took five minutes to strap the fussy child into the car seat and the screaming had only increased. Temari moaned. "I know for a fact, your head is pounding."

She bit her lip as the red-headed little girl kept repeating the same word over and over again. She took out her phone and dialed her brother's number. Just as she anticipated, he didn't answer. Pushing the end button, the dirty blonde didn't pause in calling the next number. It picked up on the first ring.

"Hinata, we have a problem."

_Is Murasaki okay? I'm on my way; meet me at the house._

Temari narrowed her eyes although it was pointless since Hinata couldn't see the action. Hinata didn't seem surprised by Murasaki's tantrum. It actually seemed as if she was expecting the phone call.

"Hinata…where's Gaara?"

…_I don't know. But we need to find him before Kyuubi does._

* * *

_Muzai _– innocence

_Nagaremono _– tramp

_Seinn _– active member

AN/ Soooo please, please let me know what you guys think. Let me know if you like it, hated it, was confused by it, figured it out, whatever comes to mind; I'm all eyes! =)

I want to know if I'm doing a good job [I put something in there, see if you can figure it out ;)]

For those who have read, reviewed, or alerted to me or my work…Thank you very much! It truly gives me motivation and it also makes me feel very warm and fuzzy on the inside

Until next time,

Tw33ty JR.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

AN/ Special Thanks to _**kurenai cakes, HinawithLove, Echo Uchiha, Wannabe-Temari, Refrigerator-Burn, readingwithenvy, SerenityKiaruSkye, untitled, It biggest fan, and Hyuga09**_…I truly appreciate you for reviewing! It makes me smile when I read them.

Alright, I've been really good with balancing a schedule, so I will _try _(emphasis on the word, try) to get a chapter out every other Saturday and in between those times, I will respond personally to any reviews I receive…but know that I will only respond to feedback. It's not that I mind the simple praise because I don't, but I don't know how to respond to that besides Thanks, and I do that in the beginning of every chapter.

Some people have been asking about when I'm going to update my other stories and the answer is soon. I really suck at multitasking so right now, this story is my first priority compared to the others…

And now….On to the story!

* * *

Temari didn't bother to go into the house when she parked in the driveway. Murasaki had not let up on her screams and the blonde was starting to get really worried. The little's girl's face was completely red and her voice was growing hoarse.

She jumped out of her car and ran her hands through her hair, pulling her ponytails out in the process. She vaguely realized that she hadn't bothered to change into her regular clothes. She was wearing a baby blue bikini set. _Glad I was wearing shorts for that certain shot. _She looked down the street, searching for a pink and purple motorcycle. _Damn it! Where the hell are you, Hinata?_

As if answering her thoughts, she heard the rumble of engine. She quickly jumped out of the way when Hinata recklessly parked beside her.

The bluenette threw her helmet off and jumped off the bike. She made her way to the car and unstrapped her daughter. Placing her on hip, she began to bounce and croon soothing words to the little girl, the calm in her voice clashing with the look on her face.

Murasaki wasn't having any of that as she continued to cry out for her father. Why couldn't they understand that she _needed_ her Chichi? There was pain above her tummy and she was scared. She just wanted the hurt to go away and she knew that her Chichi would make it better. He always made it better.

Hinata bit her lip hard and blinked rapidly to try and stop the tears. It practically broke her heart to see her baby in so much pain and sadness. As much as she wanted to join in with her daughter, she knew she couldn't. _I don't deserve it._ Guilt filled her to the brim; this was her fault.

She stroked the blood red locks lovingly before applying slight pressure to Murasaki's neck. The effect was immediate and she sighed with relief when the little girl slipped into unconsciousness. Grabbing her diaper bag from the back seat, she wiped Murasaki's face clean before setting her back in the car seat.

She knew she couldn't stall any longer; her fault or not, they needed to find Gaara as soon as possible. Temari's light green eyes had been focused intently on her the moment she hopped off of her bike. The bluenette knew that Temari wanted an explanation, but the words wouldn't come out. She didn't know what role the dirty blonde was going to play; the best friend or the older sister. Either way she was going to get chewed out.

"I…I-I s-screwed up," she whispered.

"No shit," Temari responded flatly. "What happened, Hinata? What did you do?"

The bluenette shrugged slightly and avoided her gaze. "I…I-I, ano…"

"Cut the bullshit," Temari snapped angrily. "What. Did. You. Do?"

"I-I strayed a-and he found me."

Temari widened her eyes in disbelief. When Hinata didn't explain further, she shook her head disapprovingly. "Are you insane or just stupid?"

Hinata bowed her head miserably, not bothering to answer the rhetorical question. She knew she messed up and she needed to fix it…she just didn't know how.

"How in your right mind did you decide it was a good idea to stray?" she continued, "Since when is pissing Gaara off a good idea in general?"

"Gaara would never hurt me -."

Hinata was interrupted by Temari's humorless laughter. "So you got arrogant? Never thought I'd see the day when Hinata-chan is _over_confident. Gaara would never hurt _you_; everyone else is fair game." She closed her eyes, a frown marring her features. "Here are the facts, Hinata. The former leader of _Shukaku_ is in enemy territory and from what I've been told; he's been granted access _without_ a tracker. He gave them just enough information to get them off his ass, but they're not stupid."

Hinata remained silent as her friend continued. "Did you ever think that it might be just a little bit suspicious that the most feared gang leader in Suna gave up his power and moved down here with his girlfriend? I still don't understand why you're so pissed at the title; you _are_ his girlfriend."

"It wasn't the title," the bluenette weakly defended, "It was the fact that he tried to keep me in the dark."

"That doesn't mean that you should start doing shit on your own! You were acting like a brat!" Temari shouted, unknowingly mimicking her brother. Hinata didn't retaliate with a response. "You were being completely selfish! Did you even think about Murasaki during this fucking escapade? You _know_ what happens when shit hits the fan with Gaara." She took a deep breath. "I need details. What happened?"

"Temari-chan, we need to be looking for G -."

"You and I are not moving a damn inch until you tell me _exactly_ what happened that caused Gaara to lose his composure in the first place." They stared each other down before Hinata looked away. She took a deep breath and explained the situation.

By the end, Temari's face was completely blank. Hinata was never able to read her poker face.

"Take Murasaki in the house; I will go look for Gaara."

"Wait…"

"You've done enough damage," the blonde stated flatly.

Hinata flinched at the barb. "Please…"

"Take care of your daughter, Hinata." Temari walked to the bluenette's bike and jumped on. Her light green eyes were sharp as she turned to her best friend. "Next time, think things through; you just put your whole family at risk, including me."

Murasaki was still unconscious as Hinata placed her over her shoulder. "How's that?" she whispered. She grabbed the bag and threw it on the opposite shoulder before making her way towards the house.

Temari shook her head and started the engine. "Just know that if he's killed anyone, the blood will be on your hands." She backed out of the driveway and shot down the street, beginning the race.

Who can find Gaara first? Her or _Kyuubi._

* * *

"Why can't you be a normal person and bring home an abandoned puppy or something? That way, I wouldn't deal with shit like this or idiots like you."

"Whatever, you know you love the thrill, although it might a bit too much for someone of your - …Itai! What the fuck was that for?"

"For being a dumbass; now, make yourself useful and leave. My patient is waking up."

_I'm not safe. I need to get out of here. _Those were the first thoughts upon the injured girl's awakening. When she heard voices, she kept her eyes closed and her breathing slow. She was hoping they would give her some kind of clue as to where she might be, or what was currently going on. She heard footsteps leading away from her and then the opening and closing of a door.

"I know you're awake." It was a female's voice.

She heard another set of footsteps coming to her side. _Just a little closer. _When the footsteps stopped, she tried to sit up. Her eyes flew open on their own accord in surprise. She couldn't move.

She heard a snort. "You're an idiot if you thought that we wouldn't tie you up just because you were injured. Although, I understand, you're one of the bastard's _nagaremonos. _Not very bright, ne?"

The girl slowly turned her head to the left; it still left her dizzy. It took her a moment to focus on the person standing in front of her. She was an older woman, who looked to be in her late thirties. She was sporting two pigtails and a purple diamond in the center of her forehead. Though, the one thing that stood out was her very large chest. This was the legendary doctor, Senju Tsunade…What the fuck was she doing here?

She was surprised to hear an answer, not knowing that she had croaked the question out loud. "Sorry brat, but we'll be asking the questions and you'll be answering them."

She tried to snap back a retort, only to cough. A straw was unceremoniously placed in her mouth and she greedily drank the liquid. It smoothly slid down her dry throat, quenching her thirst.

When the straw was removed, she was once again surprised. She was staring into deep blue eyes; the same blue eyes she saw before she had blacked out in the alley. No matter how much she wanted to, she could not look away.

The boy gave her a sharp smirk, subtly showing an enlarged canine. The urge to escape burned inside of her.

Naruto gave a soft snort as he sensed her fear. Honestly, did he look that scary? _I'm enjoying this far more than I should._ He didn't know if he should be disturbed by that revelation or not. He shoved the thought in the back of his mind and closed his eyes. He took a deep breath and cleared his head.

He opened his eyes a few moments later causing the girl to flinch. He resisted the urge to growl and went to grab a chair from across the room. He sat down beside the _nagaremono_ before speaking to his doctor.

"Thank you for your services and instructions, Tsunade-hime," the leader spoke. "You may leave; I'll call you if I need anything else."

The woman looked on hesitantly before heading out the bedroom door. _I don't why the hell I drag myself in these situations. _She cast another worried glance towards the door before making her way out the apartment. _Because for some reason, I'm hoping that he finds his way out, that he breaks himself free of this burden…before it's too late._

* * *

Ino resisted the urge to roll her eyes as Sakura continued to mope across from her.

"Seriously, either cheer up or talk. I didn't come here for you to sigh and pick at your food." That was followed by another small sigh and a subtle sniffle from the pink-haired girl.

"That's it," Ino threw down a couple bills and got up from her seat. "My name isn't Misery and I refuse to be a part of this company."

"Wait," Sakura gasped, "You're my best friend! You're supposed to be comforting me, not leaving the first chance you get!"

The beautiful blonde slammed her hands on top of the table, ignoring the waitress's glare. "I have been in your miserable company for the last _two_ hours and you have yet to say _one _word. You may be my best friend, but you are not my main priority. So either start talking or I'm leaving. I have other things to do."

"Okay, okay." Sakura took a deep breath. "I met up with Sasuke-kun today, after school."

"You mean to say is that you spent ten minutes looking for Sasuke after school and then you found him," Ino stated as she sat back down in her seat.

Sakura gave Ino a menacing glare before continuing. "Anyway, we started talking and -."

"You mean _you_ started talking and he just stared at you like you were a -."

"Ino-pig!"

"Forehead." Ino raised her thin eyebrow as they stared at one another.

"Stop interrupting me," Sakura deadpanned.

"I'll stop when you stop telling me the 'Sakura' version and start telling me the real version."

"What the hell do you mean by 'Sakura' version?"

"The one where you put Sasuke on a fucking pedestal and you actually had a decent two-sided conversation."

The pinkette frowned before she began to pick at her food again. Ino sighed a few minutes later when Sakura refused to open her mouth again. Sometimes she was too blunt for her own good.

"I'm sorry, Sakura-chan, I didn't mean for it to come out like that. Just tell me the cliff notes version."

Sakura was silent for so long, Ino almost thought she wouldn't answer. "I just asked him if he knew where Naruto, Gaara-san, and Hinata-chan might have gone and he blew me off. He told me to leave him alone and to stop using Naruto as a rebound."

When she didn't hear a protest, she laid her head on her arms. "Do you really think I do that?"

"What? Do you mean becoming blind, deaf, and dumb around Sasuke or using Naruto as a rebound as well as your punching bag?" Ino asked with blunt casualness. "Yes."

Sakura looked at her best friend with wide eyes. "Do I really do that?" she whispered as her bottom lip trembled.

Ino rolled her eyes. "Sakura, I've known you since we were six years old. You're not getting any sympathy from me."

"What -."

"Every time Sasuke blows you off, chews you out, or whatever; you run to Naruto and squeeze as much comfort out of him as you can before starting the process all over again. Yet, you always end up hurting him every time he asks you out, like it was an insult."

The pink-haired girl shook her head in denial. "Naruto is just a friend and he knows that. I've told him a bunch of times, but he never seems to get it through his thick skull."

Ino laughed without humor. "Do you hear yourself? Sasuke _tolerates _you and I think he actually saw you as a friend, but you are so fucking persistent that you pushed him away. He doesn't love you, Sakura-chan. Get over it and move on."

Sakura narrowed her eyes. "Why does everyone keep telling me on how I should feel? No one knows -…"

"Naruto knows. As much as you hate it, Naruto and Sasuke have something that you will never understand. The pain that you felt all those years ago when Sasuke left was nothing compared to what Naruto felt, but you were too blind to see it."

"Well it doesn't matter now," she muttered as she crossed her arms across her chest. "Both boys seemed to have forgotten that I exist, especially Naruto."

"And why would you care about whether Naruto pays attention to you or not?"

"I don't! I just…don't you find it strange?" Sakura asked as she bit her lip in apprehension.

Ino raised her eyebrow. Now, they were getting to the root of the problem. The blonde's face blanked out. "Do I find what strange?"

Sakura sucked her teeth. Ino was going to make her say it. "Don't you find it strange…that ever since Hinata came, the tension between…everyone just kind of went sky high?"

"From what I've seen, the tension is between _Gaara_, Sasuke, and Naruto; mainly Gaara and Sasuke. In my opinion, I think it's a guy thing. What does Hinata-chan have to do with any of that?"

The pinkette grunted. "She just…," she blew hot air out of her cheeks before throwing her hands up in frustration. "You see the way the guys look at her…"

"You mean the way Naruto looks at her," Ino stared at her in disbelief. "You don't like Hinata because Naruto has a crush on her? What are we in, junior high? Are you serious?"

"No, no, no, it's not that I don't like her," Sakura waved her hands in front of her, trying to explain her situation. "I just get a bad vibe from her like she's hiding something," she shrugged. "I don't know, I just don't think I can trust her, plus...nevermind," she mumbled the last part as she shook her head.

"No, I want to hear what you were going to say," the blonde simply looked at her best friend. "We've only known the girl for a couple days and you don't trust her because she won't spill her secrets to you? Everyone has secrets, Sakura-chan, even you. What else were you going to say?"

Sakura bit her lip. "It's nothing…it's just that Sasuke-kun is interested in her too."

Ino threw her hands up and leaned back in her seat. "Stop lying, Sakura. Tell the truth, if Naruto and Sasuke weren't _interested_ in her, you would not have given a damn. You don't like her because Sasuke's interested in her and apparently to you, it's salt in the wound that Naruto has a tiny crush also, despite the fact that she has a _boyfriend_."

Sakura tried to interrupt, but Ino wouldn't let her. "You don't like her because you're not the center of attention anymore, is that it?"

The blue-eyed blonde didn't realize her voice had risen in anger. She didn't understand why she was getting so angry. Maybe she was just realizing how shallow and jealous her friend was acting.

Ino gave her friend a long look. "Sakura-chan, you don't have to be friends with Hinata-chan, hell you don't have to like her. It won't be the end of the world, but you shouldn't judge her based on who pays attention to her or not. She's the new girl and she's going to be main news for awhile and maybe you haven't noticed, but the girl is beautiful. Don't act like you like her if you don't."

Sakura narrowed her eyes in anger. "I don't need a lecture from you. The only reason you like the new girl is because you want to sleep with her!"

"Oh, really?"

"Yes, really! For the past year, that's all you've been doing; sleeping with guys and girls left and right; no matter who they're with. It's still a wonder how you go to school without hearing the rumors," she ranted angrily not noticing Ino's closed off expression. "So instead of constantly dictating on how my love life should be, why don't you take a look at yours, ne? Talk to Shikamaru lately?"

The words were out before she had even thought to process them. It was a low blow, even for her. Sakura knew she had crossed the line with that question. Her emerald eyes widened in shock and she slapped a hand over mouth. "Ino-chan…I-I didn't mean it, I swear! Gomen, -…"

The blonde gave her a smile that didn't reach her eyes. "Save it." She stood up from her chair and began making her way towards the exit. "That's your problem, Sakura. You don't listen and you don't observe. Stop being so fucking self-absorbed and maybe you'll be able to figure it out."

Sakura jumped from her chair causing to fall back with a loud clatter. "Ino, wait!" she called desperately, ignoring the crowd's eyes. "I didn't mean it, damnit!" The blonde had already disappeared. _"Shit!"_

* * *

He didn't know where he was going and at the moment, he didn't really care.

Gaara looked up at the sky carelessly as he continued his fast pace down the street. It was getting darker and he knew he needed to get back soon. Just thinking of the situation made his jaw clench in rage. His vision blurred slightly and his thoughts became jumbled.

_**She's causing pain. She needs to be punished.**_

Gaara pulled over quickly. He grunted as his hands slid through his blood red locks, pulling slightly. His head felt like someone was hammering it with all their strength. He shook his head, whether in denial to his thoughts or a useless tactic to get rid of the pain, he didn't know.

_She's our Muzai; no harm will come to her. _

_**No physical harm. She is getting arrogant to our authority.**_

_She knows that we would never harm her; that we will never let harm come to her._

_**She needs to be taught a lesson. She needs to remember who we are.**_

_Muzai didn't mean it; she didn't understa-_

_**She understands perfectly! There are many ways to get our point across; deal with the situation or I will…**_

"Talking to yourself, ne? People always did call you an insane bloodthirsty psycho maniac."

Gaara showed no outwardly sign of surprise. He didn't even bother to turn around as he continued to lean against his motorcycle. He really should be getting back. Now that he was starting to think more clearly; worry started to settle in. He needed to get back to Murasaki.

He calmly got back onto his bike, not bothering to acknowledge the person.

"Never took you as a coward, _Shukaku_. Afraid to face me?"

Gaara smiled without humor. "I thought your master didn't let you out without a leash, _Hime. _Where's your tracker or did you run away again?"

Onyx eyes glittered brilliantly in suppressed rage, but he surprisingly remained calm…on the outside. He leaned his weight against a tree and crossed his arms over his chest. "Where were you today, _Shukaku_? Matter of fact, why are you even here?"

The red-head sat back in his seat and his hands clenched and unclenched as he tried to suppress his anger. He was usually so calm and collected, but Hinata pulled his trigger and the Uchiha simply had bad timing. He needed to leave; he needed to be with his daughter. Gaara closed his eyes in shame; she was in pain and it was all because he didn't have the strength to control his temper.

"You seem to keep forgetting your place, _Hime_." Gaara started his engine and finally turned to face his enemy and yet, at the same time, his temporary ally. "I am your leader's honored guest and you are an insignificant _seinn_. You don't have the authority to question about where I've been or what I'm doing. I don't need to tell you a _fucking_ thing."

Sasuke simply smirked as he shut his eyes. "There are other ways to get information; where's your little _nagaremono_? She's caught my interest since our…conversation this morning; makes me want to get to know her."

"I thought I made it clear that you should stay away from my girl. Do I need to remind you?"

Sasuke gave off a snort. He pushed himself off the tree and made his way toward the former leader. He sharply observed the red-head's reaction as he boldly leaned against the motorcycle's handlebars. "Well, it seems that I have caught _her_ interest as well, considering your 'girl' approached me."

_Damnit Hinata._

The pale gang member smiled mentally when he saw Gaara clench his jaw. His eyes flickered behind the red-head before returning back to him. He just needed to push him a little bit more.

"I just find it very interesting that the most feared gang leader in Suna gave up his leadership for a girl. And not just any girl; a _nagaremono._" He leaned in a little closer.

"Does she do tricks?" he whispered. "She must have been a _really_ good fuck for you to give up all that power."

Gaara remained silent causing Sasuke to shrug. He took a step back as he continued to speak. "Now I don't know about giving up the power, but I get what you mean about Hinata-_chan_. All those curves," he shook his head as he smirked, "and especially that ass. I understand, really I do. She looks very…_fuckable_."

In all honesty, he was surprised the red-head let him speak that long. He would have laughed, but his air supply was currently being cut off by a hand. He felt a small amount of fear, but pushed it to the back of his mind. He tilted his head, only to frown a moment later when nothing happened.

He turned his attention back to see Gaara smirking. "What's the matter, _Hime_?"

Sasuke didn't move and his mouth became a thin line as he looked past Gaara. The red-head turned his head in the same direction, not bothering to remove his hand from the bastard's neck. "Are you looking for somebody?" he gave a low chuckle as he turned back. "Oh yeah, gomen, but your bitch is a little busy at the moment. Don't worry, I won't kill her."

Survival kicked in as Sasuke's vision began to fade. He grabbed Gaara's arm and tried to get him to release.

_Chichi!_

Sasuke's legs weren't ready to support him so when Gaara released him, he dropped like a stone. Coughing and wheezing, he looked up to see the former leader clutching his head in pain.

_**As much as I would love to kill this bastard where he stands, we need to leave now. **_**Kyoui **_**is in pain and it's our fault.**_

"Awww, that's rude. I'm sad I didn't get invited to the party."

Gaara wasn't paying attention to his surroundings as he still seemed to be caught up in his own world. Sasuke froze in trepidation. He wasn't supposed to be here! He tried to hold in his coughs, knowing that any sudden moves could set anyone off.

Ice blue eyes connected with onyx. Naruto gave his friend a vicious smile while holding an unconscious girl in his arms. "I'm so glad you're making friends, Sasuke-chan."

Sasuke remained on the ground as he closed his eyes in reluctant submission. _I am so fucked._

* * *

**A couple hours before…**

"What's your name?"

The girl turned her head, ignoring the twinge of pain caused by the movement. She wasn't going to talk.

Naruto sighed before looking at the clock on his nightstand.

"Look, I'm kind of running on a schedule, so let's skip past all the 'I'll never tell' bullshit and you tell me what I need to know. Trust me; you really don't want me to do this the hard way."

The girl stubbornly kept her head in the opposite direction of the gang leader. She didn't care who this bastard was; she wasn't a snitch. She sucked in a sharp breath when she felt a hand casually trace a vein in her wrist.

Although she didn't see it, she _knew_ the blonde-haired boy was smirking at her. He began to chuckle softly. "Well, I never said that _I _didn'tlike the hard way. It's gets boring when your prisoners turn out to be a bunch of pussies. But it seems like you want to give me a challenge." He laughed again. "I'm game."

The girl tried to control her erratic heartbeat but it was no use. She was terrified. She couldn't hold in the whimper when a hand roughly grabbed her neck. The leader forcibly turned her head to face him and tried to connect their eyes. She averted her eyes quickly before letting out a scream of pain.

"Please," she began to cry, her earlier bravery completely gone, "I don't know anything, I swear. They never tell me anything; I just go where I'm supposed to go and do what I'm told. I swear I don't know anything. Please don't hurt me, please."

"Really?" he asked. "So you've never eavesdropped on an important conversation or have received information through…other means? Try not to lie to me, Sweetheart."

The girl continued to sob and babble incoherently. She squeezed her eyes shut when Naruto tried to make eye contact causing the blonde gang leader to frown sharply.

"You seem to know a lot more than I thought," he murmured although he didn't appear too worried. Naruto looked her over dispassionately, absently caressing her wrist. "Look at me," he said simply.

"Please," she whispered. "Please, I don't know anything."

"Wrong answer." He didn't even flinch when a piercing scream rang through his ears.

"Look at me," he repeated to the sobbing girl as she tried to cradle her broken wrist to the best of her abilities.

A pained whimper mixed with a sob was his only response. "He'll kill me," she whispered hoarsely, "He's going to kill me. Please, I don't know anything, please."

"All you need to do," he stated as he mockingly caressed her face, "is look at me. The rest is painless, I promise. I don't want to hurt you, but I need answers that only you can provide."

Naruto sighed as she continued to cry. "Alright." Before she could comprehend what was happening, his hand was wrapped around her broken wrist. A pained scream slipped past her lips as he twisted it. "Gomen, does that hurt? You should probably get your wrist checked out and if you don't look at me in the next three seconds, you're going to need your arm checked out also."

During his small speech, her eyes grew wide with panic.

"One."

She knew he was serious. Her heart continued its frantic rhythm as she tried to bring her jumbled thoughts in order.

"Two."

If she didn't tell him anything, he would kill her; however if she snitched, _he _would find her and kill her. It was a lose-lose situation. Now it boiled down to _how _she wanted to die. This was torture, but compared to what her leader would do to her if she snitched…

"Three." Rough calloused fingers slip up her arm.

"Wait!" she screamed. "I'll talk! I'll talk!" She didn't want to die this way; maybe he would show her mercy; she would give him his answers in exchange for his protection. He didn't seem like a merciless killer and she'd heard about the…exceptions in this gang. And if not, maybe he would grant her a kindness and kill her quickly.

"Now that wasn't so hard, was it?" Naruto released his grip and leaned back against his chair. "Look at me," he commanded with authority.

The mysterious girl's eyes remained half-lidded as she struggled to catch her breath. Her throat and lips were completely dry. Her wrist throbbed painfully with every twitch and her headache was so fierce, it felt as if a screwdriver was being drilled into her brain.

Naruto internally breathed a sigh of relief. He never enjoyed killing; one of the many things in his young life he regretted. His was one of the more merciful gangs, but when necessary, he didn't hesitate to put someone in their place. Focusing back on reality, he waited patiently for the girl to gather her bearings.

After a few seconds, he spoke to her once more. "This is the last time that I will tell you before I force you. Look at me."

She took another deep breath before slowly letting her dark brown eyes meet Naruto's. Naruto nodded his head as a show of acknowledgement before beginning his questioning.

"Name."

The words were out before she could even comprehend the statement. "Tsuchi Kin," she whispered hoarsely.

"Rank."

"_Yobirin, Shinja-sama's nagaremono _of the gang, _Oto._

"And exactly who do you belong to?"

Kin licked her lips and cleared her throat. When she spoke, her voice was barely above a whisper, complete with pain and self-loathing. "I belong to anyone who calls me, _Kyuubi-sama_."

Naruto remained silent as he processed her words.

"Who were the two bodies in the alley?"

"Abumi Zaku and Kinuta Dosu."

His eyes grew hard. "What were you doing in my territory?"

"I-I, I don't know, I swear." A pained whimper escaped from cracked lips as Kin's swollen wrist began to throb intensely. She wanted to squeeze her eyes shut, but no matter how much she wanted to, she couldn't.

"Your… 'team'. They're the lackeys, correct? They receive as little information as possible, right?"

Kin nodded her head slowly. "Yes."

"What were their orders?" All he received was silence. Naruto gripped her wrist tightly as he continued to hold eye contact. "I won't you ask you again. Why were they wandering around in my territory? Was it to piss me off? Is your leader looking for something? What?" The last word came out as a yell.

Her brown eyes welled with tears as her mouth tried to form words. "A-A g-girl. S-Something a-about a g-girl. Zaku was bitching and moaning about how b-boring the mission was and w-wanting something more challenging."

Naruto knitted his brows in slight confusion. A girl? What girl was Orochimaru talking about? A _nagaremono_?

"What girl is he talking about?" he asked as he continued to hold her wrist, only gentler. "What girl?"

"I don't know." She shook her head desperately. "That's all I know, nothing more."

"We will see," he murmured as he released her wrist. "I'll sort through that shit later; I have few more questions and after that I'll let you rest."

The prisoner nodded her head wearily, her brown eyes completely glazed over.

"What happened that made you end up in this situation?" the blonde leader asked softly.

Kin licked her dry lips before speaking. "Zaku was complaining about the easiness of the mission and wanted to do something 'fun'. That's when a black bike turned into the alley. The idiot wanted to play around the guy, but Dosu and I were against it considering we were already on enemy territory."

She began coughing during the story. A straw was placed in front of her and she gratefully took a deep drink; her eyes never wavering from _Kyuubi_.

"Zaku had already disappeared, so we had no choice but to follow him." Her bottom lip trembled as the events unwillingly flashed before her eyes. "W-When we a-arrived, Zaku was kneeling on the ground w-with his h-head t-turned to the right, s-seemingly l-looking at n-nothing." Tears fell from her brown eyes and made their down her cheeks, "I-I looked in the same direction and I realized that we w-were looking…w-we were looking at his a-arm."

"Do you know who did it? What he looked like?"

Kin shook her head as the tears continued to fall. "N-No," she whispered, "I was so f-focused on Z-Zaku's arm that I d-didn't r-realize the alley had become f-filled with…"

"With what?" Naruto asked.

Her brows furrowed for a split second before continuing, "Sand. I c-couldn't see him because the alley was filled with sand. I became separated from Dosu before hearing the most horrible scream." She wanted to shut her eyes and cover her eyes in an attempt to refrain from remembering, but it was no use. "And then he came after me; the only thing I remember is gold eyes. That's all I know, I swear."

Naruto remained silent for a moment as he searched her. Finally shutting his eyes, he stood up from the chair and made his way towards the bedroom door.

"Wait!"

The leader paused, but didn't bother to turn around. Kin stared up at the ceiling. "Will you protect me? He'll kill me when he finds out; please, I need your help."

He was silent for so long, Kin didn't think he was going to answer her plea. "I'm going to see how this plays out before I decide anything, so for now, you're my hostage. The only reason you remain breathing is because you seem to be a valuable source of information. But know this, you try anything and I won't hesitate to kill you." And with that statement he was out the door.

* * *

**Present…**

Hinata ran her hands through her hair in distress as Murasaki's soft cries bounced throughout the small room. She was sitting against the wall, opposite of her little girl's crib.

Murasaki had woken up screaming only a short time after Hinata had knocked her out. The young mother had tried everything to calm her down, but nothing had worked. The only thing that seemed to be a little effective was Shu-Shu, her stuffed tanuki.

The little girl had clung to it with reckless abandon. She held it tightly as she cooed and petted the stuffed animal with tears still falling down her cheeks. "Chichi," she whispered brokenly, "Need Chichi."

Hinata's body trembled slightly as tears fell from her cheeks. Never in her life has she felt so helpless. Her daughter was hurting and all she could do was sit there and watch. She felt as if she was suffocating; the consequential weight of her actions crushing her.

_Gaara, please come back. Your daughter needs you._

* * *

"Are you alright, Subaku?" _Kyuubi's_ leader asked as he continued to stare at his disobedient _seinn_. "You seem a little…stressed."

Gaara withheld a sigh as he ran his slender hands through his blood red hair once more. He almost had the urge to laugh hysterically at how his night was going so far. He looked in Naruto's direction and shook his head. "It seems that you need to have a little chat with your crew. I'm going to give you privacy to handle your shit."

"One second," Naruto called lightly, although his voice was steel.

The red-head paused for a second before resuming his walk towards his bike.

The blonde resisted the urge to growl. What was it that everyone seemed to think that it was okay to ignore him lately? Did they think he was going soft? He was going to have to correct their assumptions. _We're going to have a little meeting tonight._

"Stop, _Shukaku_," his voice low and demanding. "Don't forget that you're on _my _territory."

Gaara chuckled low. He turned to face the blonde leader with a dangerous smirk on his face. "Nice to know that you have some balls, Uzumaki. I was beginning to think _Hime _down there," he indicated his head towards the pale boy, who still didn't move from his spot, "was really the leader and you were just his figure-headed _bitch._"

"Watch yourself, Sabaku," Naruto snarled, his deep blue eyes taking on a reddish-tint, "You're walking on a _very _thin line."

"You think you can take me?"

"Is that a challenge?"

Gaara shrugged casually. He knew he was acting recklessly; for though, he knew that he and Naruto were on equal terms, it was more on formalities. You simply _do not_ challenge a gang leader on their own turf. "It was simply a yes or no question, _Kyuubi_. Besides, I'm simply showing the respect that you and your…crew have showed me, especially _Hime_. He's been so welcoming."

He threw a disgusted sneer down at Sasuke before impatiently returning his focus. "What is it that you need, _Kyuubi_? Everyone seems very intent on wasting my time."

_Kyuubi_ bared his teeth angrily. "You didn't tell us everything, Sabaku," he barked.

Gaara's face didn't move a muscle. "Your point? I told you _enough. _You already cleared me, _Kyuubi_. I don't need to tell you anything."

Blue eyes, tinted with red, narrowed in suspicion and anger. "I _will_ find out what you're hiding and when I do…" The blonde let the threat hang as he closed his eyes and shook his head. When he reopened them, the red glow had disappeared. "I won't give you a leash due to earlier actions, but you will have a tracker. You have three months, _Shukaku_, to tell me what you're hiding. If you do not comply with my demand, you can either leave my territory willingly or…I will escort you. Do we have an understanding?"

Gaara didn't bother to respond to the question. He turned back around and headed for his bike.

"Gaara!"

Said boy closed his eyes in frustration. What the hell was she doing here? This was just getting worse and worse.

"Temari," he deadpanned.

* * *

Hinata's legs were beginning to cramp from being in the same position for so long. Murasaki had fallen asleep although it was far from peaceful. Every few minutes, she would release a whimper, pulling her stuffed animal tightly to her body.

The bluenette released a sigh and ran her pale hands roughly through her hair. Her eyes felt swollen and her head was pounding. Only one thought was running through her head as she stared blankly towards the direction of where her daughter was sleeping.

_This is my fault._

She jumped when she heard a door slam followed by voices. Quickly standing up, she ignored the pins and needles in her legs and made her way towards the bedroom door. The young mother paused at the sound of her daughter's soft cries. Apparently she wasn't the only one that had heard the racket downstairs.

Heavy footsteps quickly made their way up the stairs and towards her direction. The door slammed open and Hinata froze. Gaara stared at her blankly for a brief second before making towards his daughter.

"Chichi! Chichi!" Murasaki screamed as she jumped up and down, holding her small arms up. Her father picked her up and brought her close to his chest as she repeated the same word, over and over again. Her tiny hand grabbed a lock if his hair and pulled roughly and she bit him on his neck, as if reprimanding him for his behavior.

Gaara didn't even flinch, also used to Murasaki's tantrums. He turned towards Hinata, who stayed frozen in her position as she watched the little girl calm down completely and cling to her red-headed father. He in return hummed soothingly as he rocked her to a peaceful sleep. It's been a hard day for her.

His aquamarine eyes remained blank as he stared at his _seinn_ with Murasaki remaining in his arms_. _They both knew what would happen if he put her back in her crib; she would want to stay close to him for the next few days. The bluenette stared back, resisting the urge to fidget. She opened her mouth.

"Gaara, I -."

"When greeting your leader, you never look him in the eye. You should know that, _Muzai_."

Hinata's eyes widened and her mouth trembled at his statement. She bowed her head slightly and slid her eyes to the right. She looked up in time to see him walk past him and make his way back downstairs.

"Where are you going?" she asked, her voice hoarse and shaking.

Her vision blurred and chest tightened at the way he stopped and stared at her. "I told you what would happen if you stepped back in," he began, his voice flat, "You are _mine_. You pull this stunt again and I won't hesitate."

With that said, he turned back around and made his way down the steps and disappeared into the living room.

Temari came up a moment later. They looked at each other before the blonde reluctantly turned her head and making her way into her room, not once making a sound.

Hinata slowly slid down the wall; her legs unable to support her anymore. Her heart felt heavy and her mind was spinning. _You pull this stunt again and I won't hesitate._ Taking a deep breath (she didn't even realize she holding it in), she released a shuddering sob and put her head in her hands as she continued to cry.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

* * *

_Muzai _- innocence

_Nagaremono _- tramp

_Seinn _- active member

_Kyoui_ - miracle

_Yobirin_ - bell

_Shinja _- sacred snake

AN/ Finally! I've had a _serious _writer's block throughout this whole chapter so please review and let me know what you think! =)

For those who have read, reviewed, or alerted to me or my work…Thank you very much, I truly and deeply appreciate it!

'Till next time,

Tw33ty JR.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

AN/ Special Thanks to _**kurenai cakes, chibi beary, Echo Uchiha, Hyuga09, and refridge-burn**_...I truly, truly, _truly_ appreciate it!

Soooo, I truly want to apologize for an extremely late update but unfortunately, life had knocked me out with a really hard curveball. My grandmother just recently passed and I'm still dealing with it, though writing has been soothing me lately. Anyway, I wanted to give something to you guys, though I'm not too happy with this chapter; it feels more like a filler than a chapter. I kept rewriting it before I finally gave up, but I hope you enjoy it.

Questions/

_How is Hinata a weapon? _I can't completely explain it without giving out important information, but I'll give you this…In this world, the only females associated with gangs are used for pleasure only, hence the term _nagaremono_. Listen to the conversation between Naruto and Shikamaru in Chapter 7 and the overall way Gaara treats her…

_How is Naruto involved in the tension between Sasuke and Gaara? _Simple, Naruto is the leader of the gang, _Kyuubi_, and Gaara, the former leader of _Shukaku, _is on his territory and hiding something. In between those times, Gaara and Sasuke met, and the exchange wasn't pleasant…

_Between Naruto, Sasuke, and Gaara…it feels more like 3 gangs than 2…_Will be explained very soon…

_How old is Murasaki? _Murasaki is 1, leaning heavily towards 2…

_How did Hinata stray?_ She ignored Gaara's request to stay out of the gang business. She 'strayed' when she went off on her own and approached Sasuke and also when she argued with Naruto about his _seinn_, when she was supposed to keep quiet about her knowledge…

I hope that answered your questions _**chibi beary**_; if not, then let me , enough of my rambling…Onward!

* * *

The next few weeks were tense.

Gaara didn't even bother going to school, due to Murasaki's clinginess. She would throw a fit if he was away for more than five minutes. She gradually relaxed as the days passed and soon she was back to her normally bubbly and manipulative self.

He barely spoke to Hinata and when he did, it was always about Murasaki or _Shukaku_ affairs. He always addressed her as _Muzai._

The living room had become his and Murasaki's bedroom, though he never slept (with exceptions of light naps). Sometimes the little girl would demand to sleep with her mother as well and he was never one to deny her. On those nights he would bring her in and set her in Hinata's lap before relaxing in the chair opposite of their spacious room.

Hinata had stopped bothering to try and make a conversation with him and instead focused her full attention on her daughter. From the bags beneath her eyes, she hadn't been sleeping well, but he did his best to ignore it.

She never knew it, but when they would finally drift off to sleep, he would simply watch them for hours before going into meditation.

By the time the bluenette would wake up, Gaara and Murasaki would be gone. Each time, she would stifle the urge to cry and go through the motions of the day. Hinata didn't even know where to begin in trying to fix the mess she created.

If she had just stayed low and did what she was told, none of this would have even happened. Everyone was tense. She had taken her best to avoid everyone, especially Naruto and Sasuke. She was easily able to switch Chemistry partners, considering Ino and Sakura were not on speaking terms. Whatever happened between them must have been bad.

Whenever Hinata would see Naruto, she would simply turn the other way; though the bluenette had a feeling that _Kyuubi's_ leader was simply amused by her pathetic attempts of damage control.

Hinata had been relieved but cautious that she had yet to run into Sasuke. It seemed that maybe _he_ was avoiding _her._ She had shaken her head at the thought, but was proved right when she had run into him on her way to class. She had briefly panicked, searching for a way to get out the situation, but when she looked up, the pale boy was gone. Taking a quick glance around, her breath caught in her throat, when she caught a glimpse of ice blue. Well, that answered her question.

She barely paid attention in her classes, mind too distraught to focus. When she would get home, she would show her daughter some attention before heading to her room and remaining there for the night. Morning would come around and process would be restarted.

She was getting so sick of it. She missed Gaara and though he would never admit, she knew that he missed her too.

* * *

_**Present…**_

Naruto leaned back in his chair, his blonde hair falling away from his eyes. Sasuke was sitting behind him while Shikamaru was asleep beside him.

To the normal eye, it would seem as if Sasuke was his normal moody self. His posture practically screamed _Leave me the hell alone!_

The past few weeks had been hell. That was an understatement.

When Gaara and his sister had left the area, Naruto had slowly made his way towards him and simply taught him a few lessons in submission.

Back in the classroom, those who were wise did the smart thing; sitting as far as they possibly could from the boy in case he snapped. Then there were those who weren't so wise…

"Sasuke-kun!"

Onyx eyes stared blankly as Sakura made her way over. She had switched her homeroom class a couple weeks before. Although the pinkette denied it, everyone knew the reason for the change. She walked past Naruto with barely a glance before sitting on top of Sasuke's desk. If she had been more observant, she would have noticed that Naruto didn't speak to her…that in itself was unusual.

"Where've you been lately?" she asked with a smile. She was a little put off after their last…conversation, but she soon shrugged it off as Sasuke being Sasuke. He simply had a prickly personality and she wasn't going to let that stop her.

Her smile faltered slightly when he didn't bother to reply. Sakura didn't expect to hear a reply, but she couldn't help but feel some disappointment. Turning away from her current interest, she finally took notice of the relaxing blonde. Considering she was sitting on Sasuke's desk, Naruto's head was practically in her lap.

She playfully nudged his head, deciding he was worth the current attention. "Class is about to start." The pinkette frowned in irritation when Naruto simply ignored her.

"Baka, wake up!" Reaching out to smack him, she was quite surprised when a large hand grabbed her wrist tightly. Emerald eyes widened slightly at the somewhat hostile action.

Sakura had to tug a few times before Naruto released her, as if giving her a warning. Emerald eyes looked at her friend warily as she tried to discretely cradle and rub her wrist.

"What the hell, Naruto?"

Naruto calmly opened his eyes causing Sakura to flinch slightly. "Gomen, did I grab your wrist too hard, Beautiful?" He asked; his tone contradicting with her nickname.

Not giving her a chance to respond, he continued, "Listen, I know this is breaking routine and all; you pining after Sasuke while he ignores you and me pining after you while you ignore me or result to unnecessary violence against me; but Sasuke and I are discussing some very important things at the moment, so if you can come back later that would be great."

Sakura's eyes had narrowed in anger while her cheeks flushed during his small rant. The blonde didn't bother to stop her the second time as she raised her hand and slapped him. Murmurs in the classroom died down at the sound, but Sakura didn't notice.

"Asshole," she muttered, before making her way out the classroom while blinking her eyes rapidly. The classroom remained in a tense silent as the people gaped at the strange interaction between those three.

Mostly everyone knew about the somewhat screwed up love triangle between Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke. It was also a fact that no matter how badly the pink-haired beauty would hurt the blonde, he _never_ retaliated, whether it be action or words.

"Is there a problem?"

It took a minute before the class realized that it was _Naruto _speaking. The laid-back, easy-going, class clown, dead last was using a tone that would make Sasuke flinch. In fact, Sasuke had shifted uneasily in his seat while Shikamaru sat up in his chair; his dark brown eyes unusually alert (for this hour anyway).

The leader released a sigh of irritation when his peers hastily returned to what they were doing before, but not without casting discrete and confused glances in his direction.

Ignoring the whispers and stares at his unusual behavior, Naruto turned to his _Shadow._ Shikamaru purposely lowered his eyelids as he slouched down in his chair. No need to make more people suspicious.

The past few weeks had simply been hell. He wasn't there at the standoff between Gaara, Naruto, and Sasuke and he never bothered to find out. Naruto had signaled a meeting that night and had reminded each and every _seinn _who was in charge. No one so much as commented on Sasuke's state.

After that, although his personality remained the same, Naruto's attitude had changed. It was hard to describe. He was still the loyal, passionate, and easy-going idiot he had met in grade school, but it now felt as if everyone was on a leash. No one joked around him anymore and his aura…he was purposely letting it leak out, causing many people to feel uneasy when they were simply in his presence. It seemed as if Naruto was dropping all pretenses.

"Is he here today?" _Kyuubi's _leader asked causing the genius to snap out his thoughts.

Shikamaru closed his eyes in concentration. To the outside world, it looked as if he had simply fallen asleep again. A few minutes later, chocolate brown eyes slowly opened, focusing their attention on ice blue.

"He's here, but he's not with Hinata-san."

Naruto smirked at the name causing both Shikamaru and Sasuke to shiver. The blonde bobbed his head in acknowledgment before turning to his best friend.

"I have an assignment for you, Sasuke-chan." Naruto showed his amusement when he saw onyx eyes flash at the nickname but showed no other sign of his irritation.

"Hn."

"Shika-kun and I have been thinking about this whole Hinata and _nagaremono _situation and we've come to a conclusion. Based on her behavior these past few weeks, Hinata might actually be a _seinn_."

Sasuke eyes his friend warily, "What does that have to do with me? You told me to stay away from her."

Naruto grinned cheekily. "I know but I changed my mind. Think of it as…community service. If Hinata is a _seinn, _she needs a tracker. I figured you would be perfect for the job."

Pale hands grabbed the edges of his desk tightly. "Are you asking for a fight?" Sasuke asked; his voice low and rough. Tension grabbed a tight hold of his body as he looked into the blonde's eyes before lowering them in respect. "Whether you told me or not, _Shukaku_ warned me to stay away from her."

"That didn't stop you before."

The pale boy gritted his teeth at the casual insult. He opened his mouth to respond, but was interrupted by the entrance of their homeroom teacher.

"Sorry I'm late class, I…"

"Crossed a black cat and had to take the long way here?"

"Had to help an old lady cross the street…across town?"

"Had to rescue a dog from a tree?"

"Had a secret mission that you can't tell us about or you would have to kill us?"

"Got lost on the road of life?"

Kakashi closed is only visible, indicating his smile, and said, "Anoo, the last one."

The whole class sighed in unison at their teacher's lame excuse before returning to their own devices. Kakashi took a quick glance around the room making sure everyone was there except…

"Haruno Sakura, Hinata, and Gaara; are they here?" The class became quiet, remembering the incident of the first student, the reclusiveness of the second, and the absence of the third.

The silver-haired teacher furrowed his brow. This would be the third week that Gaara didn't come to school. If it wasn't for Hinata, he would have already been expelled for his truancy. Said girl would occasionally skip her classes also. Not enough to get expelled, but too much for his liking and Sakura…well, she never missed a class. The pinkette had a perfect attendance record that she seemed to be very proud of.

"They're here," Naruto called out casually with his usual cheeky grin. "Sakura-chan and Hinata-chan are in the bathroom and Gaara is in the hallway."

Sasuke and Shikamaru stiffened at the answer. They both understood how he knew where Gaara was due to his tracker, but how the hell did he know where Hinata was?

Kakashi hummed in acknowledgement. As if on cue, Gaara had casually made his way through the door as if he hadn't been missing for the past few weeks. Ignoring the sudden silence and the gaping stares of his classmates, he calmly made his way to the back of the room and took a seat.

"Nice to have you back, Gaara," Naruto stated, turning his head to the back of the room. As he expected, the red head simply ignored him. The blonde simply smiled at the reaction.

"Okay, now then," Kakashi began before he was interrupted by the appearances of his two missing students. Both girls looked a little disheveled and agitated.

Sakura quickly made her way to her seat, which was in front of the classroom, ignoring both Hinata and their silver-haired teacher. Hinata, after a moment, followed suit before pausing briefly.

She normally would have made her way to the back on the opposite side of where Naruto and his crew sat, but it was currently being occupied by her boyfriend.

_So he decided to come to school today; I guess that means Temari is babysitting Mura-chan. _Glancing briefly at the Gaara, the bluenette couldn't help but feel slightly hurt that he didn't even bother to look in her direction. She turned her head to find Naruto giving her a smirk with Shikamaru and Sasuke looking uneasily at him.

Suddenly she felt pissed. Angry about the whole situation; angry with Naruto, Gaara, Sasuke, and herself. Giving an uncharacteristic scowl in Naruto's direction, Hinata flipped him off causing the blonde to laugh loudly.

"Now that wasn't very nice, Hinata-chan," he stated when he caught his breath.

She ignored him as she found a seat in the middle; an equal distance between Gaara and the gang of _Kyuubi_. She slid her slender hands through her hair in frustration. She was going to fix this, damn it! Her lavender eyes looked to her left though her face remained forward; starting with her stubborn boyfriend.

* * *

The school day passed quickly enough for Hinata, though she was starting to feel a little anxious. She had called Temari during lunch and asked if she could keep Murasaki for a few more hours. They had been on good terms lately, so the bluenette's best friend agreed with no hesitation.

Quickly grabbing the books she needed, Hinata slammed her locker shut. She paused and shivered when she felt someone approach her from behind. The bluenette swallowed thickly before slowly turning around.

Gaara stared at her impassively; his arms crossing his broad chest. Though his face remained emotionless, he was fighting the urge to grab her and never let go. Kami! He missed her, but he wasn't ready to let his anger and hurt go. If there was one thing the former red-headed leader knew how to do; it was how to hold a grudge.

Hinata, feeling the same emotions, unconsciously leaned against the lockers for support. This is the closest they have been in three weeks. Crossing her arms across her chest to prevent her from doing something stupid, the petite girl cleared her throat.

When the tense silence remained, she began to fidget. The bluenette reluctantly bowed her head and slid her eyes to the right.

"Is there something you need, _Shukaku-sama_?" she murmured lowly, oblivious to the flinch that flowed through her boyfriend's body. Gritting his teeth, Gaara clenched his fists tighter as he took a small step forward.

Hinata's breath became lodged in her throat and her heart stopped beating for a split second. Okay, they were _really _close now. All he had to do was bend down and she would be able to…

Mentally shaking her head from her wandering thoughts, Hinata tried to focus on the current situation.

"Yes, there is, actually," he rumbled, his voice coming out lower than he wanted it to. _Why am I torturing myself like this? _He absently thought as he moved in even closer; his mouth a few delicious centimeters away from hers. "My keys."

"Nani?" Hinata could barely think let alone hear due to the pounding of her heart and the blood rushing to her head. Right now, all she wanted to do was grab the boy in front of her and kiss him senseless. Before she could act, Gaara pulled back, taking with him a leather chain with keys.

"You stole my keys," he repeated. "I am simply taking them back."

Hinata bit her lip in frustration. He was teasing her? The _question_ itself made her want to hit something; specifically the red-headed _bastard _standing in front of her. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath. She needed to focus and stick to her plan. There was a reason she had stolen his keys.

Part one was complete, considering he was here, but Hinata knew she needed to act quickly. He was already starting to head down the hallway. She narrowed her lavender eyes. Why did he always have to be so stubborn!

"Gaara!" Hinata called down the empty hallway. The school would always clear out rather quickly when that last bell would ring. The red head continued towards the doors, pointedly ignoring her.

Clenching her fists, the bluenette shouted once more. "Damn it, Gaara!" She began to run in his direction when he ignored her the second time. She grabbed his arm roughly, but stumbled when he jerked it back.

Lavender clashed with aquamarine; their eyes glittering dangerously with anger. He remained silent giving her the cue to start talking.

Hinata hesitated. Licking her lips, she spoke. "_Akushon._"

Gaara shook his head. "The game's over, _Muzai_."

"No," she pushed, "the game isn't over until I receive seven days of No Questions Asked. That was the deal. Or are you going to back out because we're fighting?"

The former gang leader clenched his jaw irritation, but remained silent. "I'll say once more," she continued, "_Akushon._"

A tense minute passed slowly before he responded. "_Ikketsu._"

Although she didn't visibly relax, Hinata internally sighed with relief. That was a gamble; thank Kami it worked.

"There's a dojo ten minutes from the house. Change your clothes and meet me there in one hour; don't be late."

He gave a sharp nod before turning away from her and walking out the doors. Hinata waited until he disappeared from her view before stumbling back to her locker to retrieve her backpack. Ignoring the butterflies in her stomach and the shakiness in her body, she slowly made her way out the doors and off the school grounds.

She really hoped this work.

* * *

"Where is she?"

Sasuke slid his eyes to Naruto as they made their way to his car. _I figured that you would know the answer to that question. _He didn't dare speak what just went through his mind, so instead answered, "I haven't had a chance to tag her."

"Well then," the blonde stated as he opened the orange car door and sat down, "there's your chance." He threw his head in the direction of a blue-haired girl sitting on her bike.

Sasuke's hand twitched, though his face remained emotionless. When he still didn't move, Naruto crossed his arms with a serious expression on his face. His deep blue eyes took on a red tint as they hardened making him look dangerously feral.

"You might want to do it before she leaves," Naruto growled. "You _really_ don't want me to do it for you."

Sasuke hesitated for a split second more before slowly making his way towards the Hinata on her motorcycle. The roar of the engine covered his steps forcing him step in front of her bike, so she could be visually see him.

The helmet hid most of her expression although he could see the widening of her eyes. She revved the engine once more indicating her intention causing Sasuke to grab onto her handlebars. Giving an uncharacteristic glare, Hinata turned off her bike and pulled her helmet off of her head. The small movement hid the change in her eyes

"Why are you here?" _Muzai_ asked as she fingered her long blue locks and leaned back in the seat of her bike. For a moment, she seriously contemplated running him over. She reached into the back pocket of her shorts and pulled out her phone, checking the time.

"I thought that you were supposed to stay away from me?" she murmured absently. "I have somewhere to be in an hour, so is there something that you need?"

Sasuke clenched his fists before crossing arms across his chest. Was it him or did her voice get lower? "_Kyuubi _seems to think that you are actually a _seinn._"

The bluenette blinked at the statement. She had been expecting it, but it still made her internally wince to see that _Kyuubi _was actually going to do something about it. "So let me guess, _you're _my tracker?" she asked.

The brunette nodded his head sharply. "And if I refuse?" Sasuke snapped his head towards her; his onyx eyes narrowing in annoyance.

"And what makes you think you have a choice, Hinata-_chan_?"

"Simple," _Muzai_ said slowly as if she was talking to a small child, "I'm not a _seinn. _The only females associated with gangs are _nagaremonos;_ you should know that, Sasuke-_kun_."

"You seem to forget whose territory you're on."

"It seems you do as well," she responded without missing a beat. _Muzai_ nodded towards Naruto, who was watching the interaction, and said, "Tell _Kyuubi-sama _that he may presume all he wants, but until he has proof that I am indeed a _seinn, _he can't _touch _me."

The bluenette put her helmet back on and started her bike. Sasuke quickly moved knowing that she wouldn't hesitate to clip him if he tried to stop her once more. He watched in silence as she disappeared before making his way back to Naruto.

They locked eyes for a few moments. "Prove it," Sasuke said as he made his way to the passenger side. He really wanted a cigarette but was aware of Naruto's very low tolerance for smoking.

The young _seinn_ ran a slender hand through his dark locks in frustration as his best friend started the car and began driving to his apartment. He turned his head sharply when he heard a muffled sound.

Naruto chuckled lowly once more and flashed a cheeky grin to his companion. "So," he drawled, "She wants me to prove it?"

Sasuke tensed as Naruto's ice blue eyes flashed red for a split second before returning to normal. The gang leader's smile only widened at the reaction.

"This should be fun."

* * *

Driving somewhat recklessly, Hinata tried to reign in her temper. It seemed like Naruto was enjoying screwing around with her. She sneered at the thought and took a sharp turn, ignoring the blare of a horn.

Even after she found out that Naruto was the _Kyuubi, _the way he had acted; it seemed as if he was only curious about her. Now, after the stunt she pulled, Naruto's attitude towards Hinata had become mocking and borderline _obsessive._

One of the main reasons she barely went to her homeroom anymore was simply because of the _way _Naruto would stare at her.

Every time the bluenette glance in his direction, his eyes would darken and he would give her that damn smirk. And now he was trying to put a tracker on her! Hinata bit her lip to prevent herself from screaming as she slowed to a stop in the public dojo's parking lot.

She took off her helmet but remained where she was as her thoughts continued to bombard her; too jumbled for her to sort through. Blowing out a frustrated sigh through clenched teeth, Hinata hopped off her bike and entered the building.

Cold air whooshed past her face and she couldn't help the small smile that came upon her face as she made her way to the woman's locker room.

Lee was the one that had actually introduced this place to her a couple weeks ago. She had been moping around during her free period and had run into Lee. She wasn't really in the mood to talk that day, but he had broken her down. After giving him a diluted version of her situation, he had told her about the dojo where he always went to blow off some steam.

Coming out of her thoughts, Hinata walked out the locker room wearing a tight tank top and a tight pair of shorts with her hair in a tight ponytail. She waved to the front desk before making her way out the door.

Gaara was leaning against one of the concrete pillars looking completely bored when she spotted him. He was sporting a loose pair of black basketball shorts and a white sleeveless shirt. With his arms crossed and his nonchalant attitude, he was a mixture between mystery and badass. Their eyes met and no words were needed; though they were fighting, their connection still ran deep.

The red head pushed himself off the pillar and slowly followed his girl inside. He lazily took a look around somewhat impressed. _Much better than Suna's, _he mused.

Coming in touch with his surroundings, Gaara stopped just in time; a few inches away from running into Hinata. She took a quick peek inside before giving him a nod of approval and making her way through the doors.

Gaara walked in to see her already stretching across the room. He grit his teeth but remained silent as he also began to stretch. Ten long minutes passed in tense silence and the former gang leader could take no more. As he opened his mouth, Hinata beat him to the punch.

"Taijutsu only," she started.

"And since when have there been rules to our games, Hinata-_chan_?" Gaara mocked, calling her by her name for the first time since their fight.

Hinata ignored him, although a thrill shot through her heart as her name slid past her lover's lips. "No questions," she reprimanded sharply causing Gaara to smirk.

A moment of silence passed before she continued the rules. "Taijutsu only," she repeated. "It can be any style but it _has _to remain completely physical. Anything else results in the win going to the other person. A knock out results in an automatic win."

The petite girl shivered in anticipation when the red head flashed a feral smile. She pointed to the black line that surrounded the room. "If you step out of the line, you lose that round. Two out of three," she finished.

Gaara simply nodded his head in understanding before assuming a defensive stance. Hinata narrowed her lavender eyes in determination and smiled slightly.

A few tense minutes passed as they read each other's moves and blocked them without moving an inch. Hinata slid out of her position in frustration and threw her hands in the air. Gaara remained in his stance but gave her a taunting smirk.

"You are such a brat," the bluenette muttered before launching an attack. She aimed her fist at his chest only for it to be smoothly blocked. That didn't stop Hinata as she simply dropped low and swept her leg across the floor causing Gaara to jump and release her wrist.

With her arm free, Hinata aimed for his shoulder only for Gaara to sidestep quickly. He finally decided to go on offense as he threw his fist towards her face. Hinata tilted her head to the side; barely dodging and back flipped to give herself some space.

As she ran forward once more, Gaara crouched down in preparation. He was completely unprepared when she _literally_ jumped on him and wrapped her long legs tightly around his waist. His knees almost buckled and the red head had to suppress a groan as her body pressed intimately against his.

The former leader hissed as his right arm became numb. Berating himself for allowing Hinata to distract him, he used his only functional arm to swiftly punch her in the stomach. Hinata grunted in pain, but continued to hold onto him tightly. She bent backwards to reach for his legs only for him to slam her into the ground. She yelped as stars burst before her eyes.

Gaara jumped on his feet and backed away the moment she released her legs. Rotating his arm to try to get some feeling back, his aquamarine eyes watched his _muzai_ warily.

The bluenette jumped up quickly yet unsteadily. She blinked her eyes trying to clear her vision. Instinct caused her to duck her head barely dodging another punch to the head. Her balance faltered at the sudden movement and she dived into a roll before getting back up on her feet again.

Gaara went back on the defensive and took a few steps back for space. He rotated his shoulder again. He still felt a numb sensation, but he would be able to move it. His aquamarine eyes intensely watched Hinata's body language for any signs of when she would attack.

He watched her breathing, the tenseness in her body, the slight twitch in her hand, a small shift in her foot…there!

To anyone else, it seemed as if Hinata had simply disappeared. Gaara turned around quickly as Hinata reappeared from behind and grabbed her wrist to prevent a jab to the chest. He caught her other hand that was aimed for her head. Hinata jumped up for a kick, only to yell in surprise when the red head quickly released her arms and grab her leg. Spinning quickly, he released her causing her to crash into the wall…past the black line.

Hinata gasped as her breath was harshly forced from her. She struggled to her knees and slowly made her way back to her feet before leaning against the wall for support. Taking a couple deep breaths, lavender eyes clashed with smug aquamarine.

She pouted as she leaned her head against the wall. "Alright," she stated between breaths, "You win round one, but was it really necessary to throw me into a wall?"

He snorted. "Was it necessary for you to grab me like that," he retorted ignoring the drop in his voice. "Everything goes, remember, Hinata-_chan?_"

He was somewhat alarmed when she simply smiled when looked at him. "You're right, Gaara-_kun. _Ready for round two?"

He narrowed his eyes. "Are _you _ready? You seem a little disoriented with that hit," he taunted.

Taking another deep breath, Hinata pushed off of the thick wall and made her way back to the center of the mat. Her eyes lit up with excitement and her body trembled with anticipation. "You should be worrying more about yourself," she stated before she charged.

* * *

Naruto parked the car, but left the keys in the ignition. "Wait here," he stated with his foot already out the car door, "I just got to take care of a few things and I'll be right back."

Sasuke simply grunted before pulling out a pack.

"Do that shit outside of my car!" a voice yelled from a distance causing the teenager to roll his eyes before stepping out of the car. He lit the cigarette before taking in a deep breath of the intoxicating fumes; his nerves instantly becoming calm.

He sighed as he leaned against the car and inhaled the stick once more. This would be his second pack today. The _seinn_ had found himself smoking more often these last few weeks, usually going through at least two and a half packs a day, to relieve his stress.

Everyone had been put on a leash after the incident at the park, but Sasuke had been put on choke chain. One wrong move and Naruto promised that the beating he received that night would feel like a pat on the back.

Naruto didn't make idle threats.

He grit his teeth in frustration and anger; at Naruto or at himself, he didn't even know. Things seemed to be spiraling out of his control and he couldn't seem to get a grip. He understood that he had mistakes in his past, but why the hell was he still paying for them?

He only wanted to help, but Naruto wasn't using him to his full potential. He thought probation was bad. Now, he was on lockdown and degraded to babysitter. He had to keep track of that little -.

His thoughts stalled for a second before his eyes lit up. He took another drag of his cigarette as his lips twitched into a smirk. He had to keep track of Gaara's _nagaremono. _Although he was still somewhat cautious of _Shukaku_, he couldn't help but feel curious about the bluenette.

Sasuke knew that he had many flaws and weaknesses, (though he tried his damnedest to cover it up), but one of his major weaknesses would have to be his curious nature.

He finally admitted that Hinata had gained his interest from the moment he met her and she only fueled his curiosity from the small meetings that they had. Now Naruto was suggesting that she was a _seinn. _It was hard to believe, but the brunette had to acknowledge that would explain some of her behavior; not just towards him and Gaara, but towards Naruto as well. She wasn't too bad to look at either.

He inhaled one more time before letting the cigarette drop in the street. Stepping on it, Sasuke looked up in time to see Naruto running back to the car. "Finished with everything you needed to do?" he asked; his tone impassive with an undertone of curiosity.

Naruto simply looked at him before grinning. "Nothing you need to concern yourself with, Sasuke-chan." The blonde internally smirked when he saw Sasuke clenched his fist at the nickname. He absently wondered what he would do if he called him by Gaara's nickname.

The gang leader held in a snort as he clearly pictured it in his mind. He turned his head to see Sasuke slouched in the passenger seat in, what the world would see, a very bored expression.

Naruto gave an internal sigh as he looked at his…best friend? He shook his head as he drove off. Honestly, he didn't even know what to call Sasuke anymore. Ever since the incident a few years back, it was always one fight after another.

Sure, they've always fought, but that was the way their relationship worked. Sasuke wasn't the kind of person to wear his heart on his sleeve, and though many people would perceive Naruto as the exact opposite; it was the same for him. He just had a really good mask.

Whenever they were together, they never really spoke with words, but rather their fists. To the world, it would look like they were really trying to kill each other. To Naruto and Sasuke, they were simply having a conversation. Sometimes the blonde felt as if he knew Sasuke better than…well Sasuke and vice versa. But now…

He sighed and shook his head again. Sometimes he wished they could back to the old days. The days when they were too young to understand what was going on around them and simply focused on just being kids.

Blue eyes looked towards his companion once more before a smirk began to make his way to his face. "Hey Teme," he called out, purposely ignoring the way Sasuke's onyx eyes widened at the crude yet affectionate nickname.

The pale boy quickly regained his composure before turning to Naruto. "Hn," he grunted.

"How about we head down to the dojo? These past few weeks have been filled with some crazy bullshit and I need to blow off some steam. So what do you say?"

Onyx gleamed slightly. It's been a while since they had a friendly spar. It wouldn't be about dominance, authority, power, or any other issues they've been dealing with lately. He sat up a little straighter and gave his friend a smirk. Yeah, this is exactly what they needed.

"Hn."

Naruto grumbled at the response but couldn't hide the excited gleam in his bright blue eyes. "Stupid bastard. Would a yes or no kill you?"

* * *

Hinata grunted as became friends with the ground…again. She rolled quickly, just in time to avoid a fist landed in the spot she was a few seconds before. The bluenette quickly jumped to her feet, only to be pushed off balance once more.

Gritting her teeth in pain and frustration, she let herself fall and landed on her hands, causing her to be in a handstand. With another grunt, she snapped her leg out, catching Gaara in the jaw.

The red head stumbled back and raised his hand to his face; checking to make sure nothing was broken. Wiping the blood of his mouth, he quickly turned his intense eyes towards his opponent.

She had done a couple backflips to give herself some room. By now, they were both covered in a fine layer of sweat and sporting several bruises.

Gaara's jaw was sporting a pretty colorful bruise along with his left shoulder. His ribs may have also been bruised…or cracked, he wasn't really sure at the moment. He lip was bleeding and there was a bite mark on his neck and wrist. His shirt had disappeared about twenty minutes ago. It proved to be a nice distraction technique, considering Hinata was playing just as dirty.

He swiped his damp hair away from his face in annoyance and silently waited for Hinata to make her move.

Hinata took a couple deep breaths as she tried to get her breathing under control. She was sporting a few bruises herself. There were a couple on her arms and a one on her side. She absently swiped her hair away from her face; her ponytail coming undone a while ago. Her tank top was missing (leaving her in a black sports bra); a tactic that gave Gaara the pretty bruise coloring his ribs, although she might have hit harder than she meant to…however, the red-headed devil retaliated by casually shrugging off his shirt, which was the reason why she was favoring her right leg.

This was their final round with Hinata winning the second one. With a few well placed kicks and punches, the petite teen managed to cleverly maneuver her opponent a few centimeters past the black line.

Hinata clenched her teeth as she tested her left foot. Yeah, her ankle was definitely sprained, but she couldn't stop the smile from on her face. She hasn't had a good fight like this in months! It also didn't hurt that Gaara seemed to be enjoying himself just as much.

Lavender eyes met intense aquamarine and if Hinata wasn't so flushed from the spar; her cheeks would have exploded from the rush of blood. Her heart, which was already beating a thousand miles a minute, had decided to speed up just a little bit more.

The sexual tension was through the roof. The touches were getting longer and the teasing was becoming almost unbearable. Hinata licked her lips and internally smirked when Gaara's focus wavered slightly. She knew she was playing dirty, but then again so was he. She took one step before disappearing completely.

_Minx, _Gaara growled in his mind as his eyes unconsciously drifted to his_ muzai's _plump lips when her sinful tongue darted out and moistened them. His eyes darkened at the sight before widening as she disappeared from his view again.

Damn! The former gang leader cursed himself for falling for such a trick. He tensed in preparation just in time for him to be slammed into the ground. He grunted in pain when he landed on his bad side.

He rolled onto his back and prepared to stand before a pair of long legs straddled his waist. Breath whooshed from Gaara's lungs and his eyes nearly rolled to the back of his head as Hinata pressed her hips down to keep him in place.

He growled, so that was the game she wanted to play? Fine! For a few seconds they struggled for dominance before he gained the upper hand and rolled on top of her. Hinata began to twist and writhe against trying to get him to move, but he was prepared.

Pushing most of his weight on her, yet not enough to crush her, he grabbed both of her wrists with one hand and pinned them above her head. He looked into her flushed face, enjoying the feeling her breasts brushing against his bare chest with her shallow breaths.

He glanced above her for a split second before returning his focus with a smug smirk on his face. "Looks like I win," he stated lowly; his breaths still coming out slightly shallow.

Hinata wriggled again before giving up. She turned her head left and right. From what she could see, she was still safe inside the black lines unless…she tilted her head back against the floor; although, slightly difficult, she was able to manage it.

Her hands. When Gaara pinned her by her wrists, her hands fell just outside the black line; therefore, she had lost the match. And yet, she felt better than ever had these past few weeks. She understood that she had missed Gaara, but she didn't realize _exactly _how much until this moment.

The bluenette looked into intense aquamarine eyes to see what words couldn't express. No words were exchanged before Gaara crashed his lips to hers in a demanding kiss. Hinata responded with as much excitement, if not more. She struggled, trying to get him to release her from his strong grip, but it seemed as if he no intention of letting go just yet.

Her mouth opened the same time his tongue slid out. For a few minutes, their tongues were entangled in a passionate yet sensual dance before they abruptly pulled away by the sound of slow clapping.

Gaara turned his head sharply towards the door and released Hinata. His eyes narrowed as he smoothly stood, despite his recent injuries, and unconsciously blocking his _muzai_, faced the body standing in the doorway.

"That was most entertaining," the voice said with a hint of laughter. Ice blue eyes glinted playfully with his next few words.

"I want to play."

* * *

_Muzai_ – innocence

_Nagaremono_ – tramp

_Seinn _– active member

AN/ Please let me know what you guys think…I would really like to hear your opinions on how you feel about this story…Also I searching for a Beta, so if you have the time and the interest, don't be afraid to hit me up

For those who have read, reviewed, or alerted to me or my work….Thank you very much and I truly, _truly_ appreciate it!

'Till next time,

Tw33ty JR.


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

AN/ Special Thanks to _**chibi beary, Hyuga09, kurenai cakes, 4Evr.-A.-fAIlUrE, Refrigerator-Burn, Wannabe-Temari, Happy Now That You Updated, nerd4ever243, and AmaiNeiko **_for reviewing…I truly, truly appreciate it! They really made me smile =)

I also wanted to thank everyone for their sympathy and their support. Your words helped me and they made me smile.

_**Heads up! **_This chapter to put it simply…is completely chaotic! I want to tell you more, but I'll just let you read it for yourselves.

Questions/

_What is the meaning of stray? _Gaara may be Hinata's boyfriend, but because she is a gang member, he is above her and therefore she needs to obey him. Gaara had suggested that she stay away from Sasuke and was told to stay away from Naruto, but she didn't listen…She completely disregarded his authority due to their relationship; hence she strayed.

_Why is it so important if Hinata is a seinn? _In this world, the only females associated gangs are _nagaremonos_, the fact that Hinata is an actual gang member will cause some…problems. Also, I did say that Kankuro was a _seinn, _but I never mentioned anything about Temari's direct involvement…

Well…I hope you enjoy! Onward!

* * *

Hinata scrambled up behind Gaara, strategically placing her hands flatly against his back. Instinct warred with trust in her mind before trust won out. Confident in Gaara, the bluenette closed her lavender eyes in concentration.

Outwardly, Gaara's expression didn't change although inside he couldn't help but feel a little apprehensive. What the hell was Uzumaki doing here? The former leader wasn't stupid; he saw the way Naruto looked at Hinata along with Sasuke's curious glances. Just thinking about it made his blood boil.

"What do you want?" Gaara asked flatly.

Naruto snickered gleefully and smiled widely, flashing his full set of teeth. "I just told you; I wanted to join in on the fun." His eyes flashed for a split second, (something that seemed to occur more and more often) before turning his attention to Hinata.

"You're very talented, Hinata-_chan,_" the blond stated and casually added, "for a _nagaremono, _that is."

It took all of Gaara's iron control of his emotions not to lash out and bash the fucker's face in. He casually tilted his head back, showing his blood red tattoo. His sharp aquamarine eyes seemingly staring off into the distance. The red-head absently noticed when his _muzai's _hands slid away from him.

Hinata looked around and grimaced when she saw her black tank top lying next to where Naruto was standing. Unconsciously placing her hand on her left hip, the bluenette attempted to move from behind her boyfriend.

Gaara subtly blocked her with his eyes remaining on Naruto. He grabbed his girlfriend's slender wrists and wrapped them around his waist causing her to hug him from the back.

_There. _It was so quick; anyone else would have thought they had imagined it. Gaara simply smirked. Maybe this would be fun after all. He turned his head to look into Hinata's confused expression. The red head simply tilted his head behind her.

"My shirt is behind you," he said lowly, "Stay behind me and go put it on." His voice brooked for no arguments, so Hinata simply nodded her head and began to move.

A shiver raced down her spine when a growl reverberated through her body. The petite teen withheld a gasp as she continued to move, but with more difficulty.

The two leaders were already fighting and they haven't even moved yet. Gaara remained in his stance with his arms crossed his chest and his face holding a bored expression. He stared intensely into blood red eyes and his mouth cracked into a dangerous smirk.

"You seem to be having trouble controlling that little temper of yours, _Naruto-kun_." A bearing of sharp teeth was his only reply. Gaara simply narrowed his eyes in irritation. "No control," he murmured although he was positive the blond could hear him.

"I don't need _him_ to kick your ass, _Kyuubi_."

That seemed to be the starting gun before Naruto and Gaara simply disappeared. A sharp crack was heard in the middle where the bodies had seemingly collided. From there, it was a complete blur.

Hinata, with Gaara's shirt hanging loosely off her frame, was stuck. She didn't know if it was simply smarter to stay put or to risk trying to move out the danger zone. The answer was given to her when a hand roughly gripped her arm and began to pull her.

The bluenette tried to jerk back in surprise only to hiss when she saw who it was. "What the hell are you doing here?" Hinata asked, although she knew she shouldn't have been surprised. Wherever Naruto was, Sasuke always seemed to follow.

Sasuke, in turn, gave a sneer along with a deadly glare. "I'm trying to save your sorry ass, but if you want to be in the middle of this fight, be my fucking guest."

Hinata gave him a quick glare and tugged once more. "Let go of me," she stated with more calm than she felt. Inside, she was trembling. If Gaara lost control again, she shook her head; she didn't want to think about it.

She needed to stop them. She knew that the tension between the leaders would eventually end up with them fighting, but not now. It was too early. Hinata tugged her arm with more earnest, though it seemed as if Sasuke wasn't going to let her go anytime soon. She was too panicked to put much speculation into it.

"Please let me go," she pleaded; her voice thick with panic. Another crash sounded throughout the room followed by the sound of laughter. Another shiver ran down her spine as she felt Sasuke's body tense through his arm. "They're going to kill each other!" she shouted.

_Shit! What do I do? What do I do? _She couldn't use any of her moves. Naruto may have claimed to see the fight, but everyone in the room knew he was bluffing. _Nagaremonos_ were only allowed to know the basics to defend themselves when it became absolutely necessary; however, most gangs didn't even bother with that since they deemed _nagaremonos_ expendable.

Sasuke simply shrugged. His eyes holding a dangerous gleam; the pale _seinn _smirked viciously. "That bastard is getting _exactly _what he deserves. It's too bad I can't join in the fight."

Hinata fiercely bit her lip as she clenched her hands into fists tightly. She hadn't realized Sasuke had released and slid behind her until she felt his body heat. She fought a shiver as he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her back against his firm chest.

"What the _hell _are you doing?" she hissed as she began to struggle.

Sasuke didn't move an inch. He didn't even flinch when she sunk her teeth into his arm. "I have a…theory that I would like to put to the test," he whispered into her ear causing the bluenette's body to tense and her lavender eyes to widen. What theory?

She tensed even further when comprehension sank in. "You're insane," she murmured dazedly. "You must seriously have a death wish if you're even thinking about it."

"No," Sasuke replied casually, "I'm just a curious person and when I find something of my interest, I usually stop at nothing until my interest wanes."

"It's unfortunate that you, my dear _nagaremono_," he continued while he simultaneously held her tighter causing her to squirm in anger, "have become quite an interest."

He squeezed once more before loosening his hold slightly; unknown to her, just as he planned. Hinata broke from his hold and quickly spun around; her hand already in position to strike his chest before she froze.

_Damn it, _she cursed in her mind. _I should have known better. He's an Uchiha, _she mused absently as she looked into the slowly rotating Sharingan with faux fascination. Her arm lowered slowly and she made her way back towards him as if she walking into his embrace.

"Bastard," she tried to say, though only a soft whimper slipped through her lips. Sasuke smirked giving himself an almost demonic appearance.

"Good girl," he murmured as she tilted her head up, "now let's give your master a good performance, shall we?" And with that he kissed her.

All hell broke loose.

* * *

Sakura fidgeted from one foot to the other as she stared at the door in indecisiveness. She forced her hands apart when she realized that she was wringing her hands so hard, that her skin was becoming red from the rubbing.

She took one step forward before shaking her head and taking a step back. _You are such a coward, _the pinkette thought to herself miserably. _Just go in and apologize. It's not that damn hard!_

Either she didn't know that she was receiving weird and confused looks as she continued to talk and nod to herself or she simply didn't care.

"Oh, for the love of Kami!"

Sakura jumped about a foot into the air in surprise. Placing a hand over heart, emerald eyes narrowed heatedly at the owner of the voice. Ino ignored her glare with her arms crossed her chest and her hip out.

They had a staring contest for a moment before Sakura lowered her eyes guiltily.

Ino sighed wearily before making her way back inside her family's flower shop. She turned her head to see her best friend frozen in the same position.

Light blue eyes rolled in irritation before the owner of them spoke, "Look, either you come in or leave. You're freaking out my customers."

Sakura looked up in surprise and slowly began to follow her friend inside the building. She cleared her throat, "Anoo, how long did you know I was standing there?"

Ino gave an unladylike snort and gave her disbelief. "You must be really out of it," she muttered as they made their way to the small but cozy back room. A wry smirk came across her glossed lips. "Two words. Glass. Windows."

Sakura's bright green eyes widened in horror and her cheeks turned a bright shade of red in embarrassment. At the moment, she really wanted to slap herself for this latest act of stupidity. No wonder people were looking at her crazy.

Ino gave her a weary smile causing the pinkette's heart to lurch painfully. Right, embarrassment aside, she came here with a mission; to apologize. Although it was becoming a little bit harder than she realized. She bit her lip and began tugging a pink lock nervously.

Sakura opened her mouth, "Ino-chan, I-."

"Hold that thought," Ino interrupted almost hurriedly and made her way out the small room. Sakura frowned at the action before slumping down on the small couch.

Yup. This was going to be a lot harder than she thought.

* * *

Temari sighed as she relaxed further into the couch, her eyes absently watching the moving pictures on the television. She jumped when a block hit her square in the face.

Her head spun to the little girl she was currently babysitting and scowled when Murasaki looked at her with a wide innocent look in her eyes. Temari's scowl deepened when she simply turned her attention back to the blocks currently surrounding her. _You're Gaara's kid alright._

"You know you're not supposed to throw blocks, Mura-chan." The dirty blonde sighed when she was completely ignored. Turning her attention back to the television, she picked up the remote to change it from some bright kid's show only to be hit with another block.

Temari glared at her with Murasaki laughing in reply. She pointed to Temari and said some things in her language before pointing to the television. "No. Mine."

"You're not even watching it!"

Murasaki narrowed her eyes in anger. "Mine!" She reached behind her…

"Don't even think about it, Murasaki," Temari stated sternly; not that that did any good. The little girl maintained eye contact as she deliberately grabbed the soft block behind her and set it in front of her.

Temari crossed her arms in exasperation. Her lips twitched in amusement when Murasaki began to innocently play with her toy, as if she wasn't planning anything diabolical. The model almost snorted over the thought. It was a shame she wasn't exaggerating.

"Murasaki," the aunt started, "you're going to your room if you even think about it." She sighed again when the little…angel didn't even flinch. Her jaw dropped when Murasaki muttered something unintelligible under her breath. _I think she just cursed me out._

Temari loved her niece with everything she had, but there were times when the one-year old clearly reminded her why she decided to postpone the whole 'motherhood' thing. The girl simply took her to her limits at times, but maybe that was just because she was Gaara's kid. Her thoughts were abruptly interrupted by, low and behold, another block.

She let out a frustrated closed scream before gently throwing the block back in retaliation. She laughed at the shocked look on Murasaki's face as the block bounced softly on top of her head.

The shock faded into anger. The little girl wobbled to her feet all the while screaming things that only she could understand. She made her way to Temari and hit her with a tiny fist. "Bad! Bad! Bad Baa-Baa!"

"No, Murasaki. You don't hit people." Temari took the hand and gave it a sharp smack causing Murasaki to yelp. She began to cry a split second later. The young woman shook her head and pinched the bridge of her nose.

"You really need a nap and I really need a shot."

* * *

Shikamaru sighed as he stood in front of Naruto's apartment door. He really didn't want to be here, but apparently he was doing some "male bonding" with the traitorous bastard and needed someone to play babysitter.

He snorted in irritation; his face contorted into a scowl that was starting to become his usual expression lately. He opened the door and immediately ducked his head as a bat met the door with a loud crack.

"Shit!" Shikamaru exclaimed in surprise before dodging the lethal weapon once more. He held his hand up and was rewarded with a surprised yelp and the sound of the bat falling on the ground.

"What do you want?" a soft voice asked somewhat calm underlying with panic.

The brunette turned around; his mouth already open for some smartass comment before shutting it with a click. For a split second, red clouded his vision before he forcibly pushed it back as he openly stared at the frozen girl in front of him.

It wasn't the wiry scars that lazily wrapped around her neck and down her small arms that caused him to clench and unclench his hands repeatedly and made his usual lukewarm blood boil. No, it was the small tattoo marked on her neck.

How the hell did he not know about this? What was _Kyuubi _doing? _Kumori _ran his hand roughly through his head snagging his ponytail holder causing his hair to fall around his shoulders.

"Son of a bitch," he murmured before he shot a quick glare at his current problem. The girl's eyes were wide with fright although she was still trying to move from her frozen position. _Kyuubi's _second in command simply sighed and tilted his head to the side causing her to involuntarily do the same.

"Who are you?" Shikamaru asked tiredly. Kin didn't respond making him roll his eyes. "Fine, if I release you, promise not to scream," before sarcastically adding, "and don't even think about picking up that damn bat."

Since she couldn't nod her head, she settled for a whispered, "Yes."

Shikamaru relaxed his hand and made his way towards Naruto's kitchen. He opened the fridge and grabbed a beer. Peeking up, he glanced at his temporary charge, "You want anything?"

Kin shook her head and took a small step back. Shikamaru simply shrugged and shut the fridge. He made his way towards the couch and without looking towards her said, "Step away from the fucking bat…please. Sit down before I make you do it."

Kin cursed in her head. She walked to the opposite side of the couch and sat down cautiously.

Shikamaru snorted. "Relax, if I came here to kill you, you would have already been dead. I'm your babysitter." Kin nodded her head slowly although she still kept her guard up.

Since the interrogation, Naruto had let her roam his small apartment, but not once had he let her leave. The only people she had contact with in the last few weeks had been Naruto and that bitch, Tsunade.

She tried to escape once and that was one lesson she never wanted to learn again. The _nagaremono _had tried to leave right after Tsunade had healed her from Naruto's little…talk. She waited a couple days and when Naruto had left for school, she slipped out through the window.

Five minutes later, it was with horrible realization that Kin understood that Naruto, the_ Kyuubi _and leader of the gang she was currently running from, was _her _tracker. She shook her head to banish the dark thoughts that ran rapidly through her mind. _Kyuubi _didn't let Tsunade heal her for a week.

"What's your name?" Shikamaru repeated bringing Kin out of her thoughts.

"Kin," she absently stated.

The _seinn _nodded. "And how exactly did you end up here in my leader's home?" Kin remained silent at the question, instead staring at him in cautious curiosity. She didn't feel the need to say the first thing that came to her mind.

She lowered her eyes, half in shame and half in relief. "He caught me."

"Thanks," he deadpanned, "that explained everything; I know exactly what's going on."

Kin bit her lip, but nonetheless remained silent. What was she supposed to tell this stranger? "Well, what do you want to know?"

Shikamaru took another drink before replying. "Look, I didn't know about you until the phone call a couple hours ago. How did you become a hostage for _Kyuubi?"_

Kin crossed her arms defensively. "I've been left alone before," she began warily; avoiding the question, "Why all of a sudden do I need a babysitter now?"

The lean brunette sighed in irritation and took another swig of his drink. Man, what he would do for a cigarette right now. He watched the young girl with indifferent chocolate eyes as his mind continued to turn.

She had a point. Apparently this "Kin" had been hiding in Naruto's apartment for the past few weeks and considering the blond has been going to school and coming to the meetings and runs; the girl has been left alone quite often. So now, why all of a sudden did his leader need him to watch her while he bonded with the traitor? _Hime _was the word that ran absently through his mind causing him to snort softly.

_Kyuubi's _second-in-command frowned at his sudden turn of thoughts. He clenched his drink tighter before loosening it. His whole body slumped further into the couch; more in exhaustion than actual defeat. When did he become so bitter? He was always so laid back and never stressed about…anything, really, but that all seemed to change overnight.

Shikamaru mentally shook his head. Putting his personal problems to the back of his mind to sort out later, he turned to Kin and began to focus on the main problem. He ignored the way she watched him warily.

_There's a reason the bastard did this. She never needed to be watched before, so why now? _With those thoughts, Shikamaru began to do what he did best. He began to plan and strategize.

* * *

Gaara opened his eyes slowly as if waking from a long sleep. Momentarily disoriented, he took a look around him. His brow furrowed in confusion as he pinpointed his location.

He was in his mind.

"What the hell happened? How did I end up here?" he murmured to himself. Though he spoke softly, his words were painfully loud. He looked beyond the vast desert, absently feeling a small breeze. He knew he was inside his mind, yet everything felt so real.

He could feel the sand shifting through his feet and the warmth of the sun. He never really bothered to question why his mind resembled the Suna desert.

Gaara shook his head hard; he was losing focus. It always seemed to happen when he was here. He would lose track of time. He searched around him once more, searching for the one responsible for bringing him here.

"Shukaku!" Gaara shouted. No one answered. The red head clenched his fists in anger. Why was he here? Something _extremely_ bad had to have happened for Shukaku to just take over without any warning. But what? It was in the back of his mind, but when he tried to grab it, it jumped out of his reach.

"Shukaku!" Gaara shouted angrily. "What the fuck happened? Why did you put me here?" Silence. "Answer me, damn it!"

"_**Kyoui would have died had I not taken over."**_

Gaara reeled his head back as if he'd been struck. The scenery changed slightly and a small oasis appeared beside him. He leaned against a tree and closed his eyes. His hands ran through his blood red hair while his mind continued to race.

"Did you block my memory?" The former leader asked his counterpart. "What happened? I need to know."

Shukaku didn't even bother to appear. _**"All you need to know is that I am handling it. I will reveal all later; for now, rest. We both know how taxing it is to be pulled without warning."**_

Gaara snarled in reply, but he knew wasn't going to get anything until Shukaku was ready. Despite his worry for his daughter and his _muzai_, he slid down the base of the tree and drifted off.

* * *

Sakura bit her lip in worry; maybe this was payback. Twenty minutes have passed and Ino still had not come back into the room and Sakura was becoming a little fidgety.

The pinkette sighed in frustration and anxiety; she just wanted to apologize and leave! Well, maybe not leave, but she really didn't like being in awkward situations. Sakura closed her eyes and ran her hands through a hair before standing up and making her way to the door.

Just as she reached for it, the door opened on its own causing Sakura to stumble forward before she caught herself. Ino walked through the door slowly, relaxing slightly when she sat on the couch.

Sakura stood there for a moment before sitting back in her previous position. No one talked for a few minutes and the tension was so thick, you could cut it with a blunt knife.

Just as the pinkette opened her mouth, Ino spoke before her. "What's the definition of a whore?"

Sakura answered with an intelligent, "Huh?"

Ino leaned forward, her pale blue eyes intense. "What is the definition of a whore, Sakura-chan?" she repeated slowly.

Shifting uncomfortably in her seat, Sakura opened and closed her mouth repeatedly. "Anoo, someone who sleeps with a bunch of people?" The statement sounding more like a question than a fact.

"A whore," Ino began, "is a woman who engages in promiscuous sexual intercourse, usually for money."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Sakura waved her hands in front of her. "I never called you a whore!"

"You implied it."

"Look," the pinkette sighed, "I'm sorry about what I said, but I wasn't the only person aiming to hurt that day."

"I was giving you facts, damn it!" Ino snapped, angrily slapping her hands on the table. "I wasn't aiming to hurt you; I'm blunt and you already know that. I was trying to fucking help you!"

The blonde didn't even realize she was in her best friend's face until she saw her lean back slightly. She backed up slightly, but never lost the anger and hurt in her light blue eyes. She held up her hand when Sakura opened her mouth to speak.

"No, let me finish." Ino went back to her previous position. She sighed heavily and closed her eyes.

"You hurt me," she whispered, unknowingly causing Sakura to flinch.

"I'm sorry, I thought you knew about the rumors-"

Ino let out a humorless laugh and turned to Sakura. "You think I give a _fuck_ about what anyone thinks of me? Come on, Sakura. How long have you've known me?"

Blonde locks swayed as Ino shook her head back and forth with a small smile. "Sure it stung a little bit to think that my best friend actually believed all that bullshit, but hey," she shrugged, "I could get over that easily. No, it wasn't that at all."

Ino remained silent, seemingly lost in her thoughts. "I put my ultimate trust in you when I told you about what happened between me and Shikamaru."

She looked over to see Sakura biting her lip and with eyes filled with regret.

"I think I'm a pretty strong person when it comes to my emotions, but when it comes to Shikamaru," Ino cut herself off and clenched her fists. "You were the one aiming to hurt, Sakura; all because you couldn't handle the truth."

Tears spilled down Sakura's cheeks as her heart swelled with regret. "I'm _sorry_, Ino-chan," she whispered, her voice breaking. "You're right, okay? I'm sorry; I just got so angry and…and…I didn't mean to hurt you."

Ino watched as Sakura put her head in her hands to hide her tears and sighed. No matter what, Sakura was her best friend; they've been through so many things since they were little girls. The pinkette had her flaws, but who didn't?

The beautiful blond slowly made her way towards her friend. She knelt until she was at eye level and gently removed Sakura's hands. She wiped off the tears on her best friend's cheeks and looked directly into her eyes.

"I forgive you and I'm sorry for being so blunt. I'll try to tone it down a bit, I promise." She grabbed Sakura's cheeks more firmly. "But if you _ever _pull this shit again, just know that I will be kicking your ass to Suna and back."

They both laughed at the threat. Ino backed away and Sakura hurriedly wiped her eyes with a small smile on her face.

Ino smirked. "Alright, alright, enough with this emotional crap. Let's go."

"Where are we going?" Sakura stood up with Ino and they both made their way out of the small room and into the main floor of the flower shop. A man with long blonde hair in a ponytail was standing behind the door and seemed to writing inside a book.

Ino waved her hand to grab his attention but kept walking to the glass doors. "Thanks for covering, Tou-chan. We're heading to the dojo; I'll be back in a couple hours." She grabbed Sakura's arm and pulled her toward the exit.

"I'll see you later, Yamanaka-san," Sakura called as she was tugged out the door.

"Yeah, yeah." The man grumbled as he continued to focus on the book in front of him. "You owe me," he mumbled although Ino was probably halfway across the parking lot.

* * *

For one split second, there was the simple thought that maybe this _was not_ a good idea; but only for a split second. What followed after was excitement, with a hint of fear and a tinge of bloodlust.

_Kyuubi_ was having a field day. His red eyes took in his prey and couldn't help but tremble in excitement. He should have done this weeks ago! If this was all it took to push _Shukaku_ over the edge, he would gladly do it again…though he wouldn't bring the traitorous bastard along. It seemed that he had had a little _too _much fun with his prize.

A fist to his stomach interrupted his musings and caused him to double over as air escaped forcefully from his lungs. He quickly brought his forearm up to block a kick to his side and dropped to the floor. He rolled on the floor and stood up when he felt he had enough distance between him and his opponent.

A low growl slipped past his lips when _Shukaku _ignored him once again. It's been like that for the past five minutes. Ever since Sasuke had kissed his prize, _Shukaku _had been trying to reach his _seinn, _and he has been trying to become the main focus ever since.

The moment Sasuke's lips touched Hinata's, hell had broken loose. _Kyuubi _had literally hit the ceiling from _Shukaku's _abrupt entrance and Sasuke was unconscious and in the wall before he could even comprehend that he was hit. It seemed as if Hinata had simply fainted from the shock of being controlled.

_Kyuubi _had gracefully landed on his feet and intercepted _Shukaku_ before he could put a hole through his _seinn's _chest. He did it with a terrifying smile on his face the whole time.

_Kyuubi_ snickered gleefully as he flickered before _Shukaku _and tried to slam his leg into his head…emphasis on the word _tried. _That damn shield. He felt a sharp tug on his leg before he landed sharply on his back.

Blood red stared straight into solid gold. "I should kill you right now, _Kyuubi,_" _Shukaku _hissed with fury.

_Kyuubi _simply smirked at the statement, showing off an enlarged canine. "So you're finally showing yourself, _Shukaku." _He chuckled again only to be cut off by a fist to the face.

"Give me one reason why I shouldn't kill you and the fucker that's currently lodged into the wall behind you." _Shukaku_ shook him roughly, only to be slammed into the ground. He wasn't quick enough to shield himself from the fist that ended up in his stomach. _Kyuubi's _body prevented him from doubling over. He coughed roughly as he tried to suck in much needed air.

"I can give you two reasons actually," _Kyuubi _said in sing-song voice before he took a dark tone that would have made lesser men lose control of their bladder. "One; this is _my _territory, mother fucker. You think this is it? Keep fucking with me and you'll see what I can _really _do."

He grunted when he received a punch in his side but held firm. "Two; _she_," he pointed his head in the unconscious girl's direction and licked his lips, "doesn't belong to you."

_Shukaku _snarled at the statement and was able to kick _Kyuubi _in the stomach, throwing him off. They both stood up and faced each other off. They were silent for a few seconds before _Shukaku _spoke.

"Does he even know why you want her? I've seen you a lot lately, _Kyuubi. _You've been fighting for control, haven't you?" _Shukaku _smirked when he heard a low growl. "Is he even conscious that you've taken control?" _Shukaku _shook his head with a terrifying smile on his face before he laughed. "You fucking foxes are the same."

_Kyuubi _let out a loud snarl before attacking. The next few seconds passed in intense tai-jutsu before giving each other space.

"So how'd you do it?" the blond asked calmly. _Shukaku _didn't bother with a response; his body stiffened letting his opponent know that he understood the question. _Kyuubi_ laughed at his body language. He smirked in triumph, although he didn't relax his guard.

"Does she know how she came to be with you?" The silence caused _Kyuubi_ to laugh hard. "Well, isn't that a bitch? She doesn't know does she?" He grunted and landed into the wall hard, courtesy of a fist to the face, but he kept that damn smile on his face. "She doesn't know that you kidnapped her, does she?"

That was the last thing spoken before the room exploded.

* * *

Temari sighed as she sat in the rocking chair with Murasaki asleep in her lap. It had taken an hour, but she was finally able to get the little girl to take her nap.

The dirty blonde was slightly concerned as she stared at her niece. Murasaki was always a little cranky when it was her nap time, but today she was unusually stubborn.

After the block incident, Temari had tried to get the little girl to walk to her bedroom, but Murasaki wasn't having it. She screamed and yelled while throwing her body on the floor. Temari had finally just picked her up and realized how hot she was.

"Shh, shh, Baby," Temari cooed to Murasaki as she tried to get her to calm down. They had finally reached her bedroom. The young woman placed the baby in her crib and stripped her of her shirt and pants. She forced Murasaki to lay on her stomach and when the little girl protested, she placed Shu-Shu next her.

Temari rubbed Murasaki's back soothingly as she checked for anything unusual. Her sharp eyes caught a slight glow behind her niece's ear. There behind it; a small symbol for love was glowing.

"Damn it, Gaara!" The older sister muttered furiously as she picked up her niece, who was starting to aggressively fight her sleepiness. She sighed once more as she sat in the rocking chair with Murasaki in her lap and began to slowly move back and forth.

_What the fuck is going on and how the hell did I get dragged into it?_

* * *

Hinata groaned softly and put her hand to her head. What happened? Where was she?

She heard a snort to her left along with a soft, "Weak." The bluenette turned her head to see _Muzai _leaning against a heavily branched tree, causally flipping what seemed to be a…knife.

Lavender eyes took in the surroundings before they lit up in recognition. What was she doing in her mind? What exactly happened? She slowly got up from what seemed to be a forest floor and cautiously made her way to the tree opposite of her…persona.

She took another look around her. It looked as if they were in the middle of an extremely dense forest. Little bits of sunlight created spots here and there. The clean scent of earth and rain permeated the air and the sounds of animals were background music.

She looked at _Muzai, _who was currently staring her in what seemed to be half disgust and half boredom. Hinata bit back a groan as she leaned against the tree. "What happened?" she asked.

_Muzai _gave her a small sneer as she continued to flip her knife in the air and catch it. After a few minutes of tense silence that felt like hours to Hinata, _Muzai _decided to speak. "You're pathetic, you know that?"

Hinata frowned. "And how exactly did you come to that conclusion, _Muzai-chan_?"

_Muzai _sneered at the name and turned disdainful eyes to the petite girl in front of her. "You let that bastard take control of your body without so much of a struggle. If I had been in front, that son of bitch would have been through the wall if he so much as _touched _me."

Hinata frowned at the explanation. Who was she talking about, Gaara? She couldn't seem to remember anything after Gaara and Naruto collided in explosive power. After that, everything was pretty much a blank. "What did you expect to me to do?" Hinata burst out angrily, thinking she might have been talking about the fight. She glared at her counterpart. "We're supposed to be laying low, not-."

"Well, you were doing a pretty shitty job of that," _Muzai _interrupted, "Whenever shit hit the fan, courtesy of you by the way; I was the one that needed to pull your ass out the fire. So don't come to me with that 'laying low' bullshit, alright?"

The main bluenette just let out a long sigh and slid down the tree and into a sitting position. She brought her legs to her chest and closed her eyes and she laid her head on the makeshift table. "So what are you doing here?"

"What?"

"I said," Hinata spoke as if she was speaking to a small child, "what are you doing here with me? It's obvious that you're not going to tell me anything considering you suppressed my previous memories. Apparently I'm in big trouble to be pulled into my mind with no warning, so why aren't you saving our ass, hm?"

The young girl swiftly rolled to the side, barely avoiding the knife, now quivering harshly in the tree, which seemed to be aimed towards her chest. She stared up at the other occupant in pure disbelief. "Have you lost your mind?" Hinata screamed. She wasn't sure wounds and death in her mind connected to her actual body and she sure as hell didn't want to find out anytime soon.

_Muzai _simply shrugged as another knife mysteriously appeared in her hands. She began to toss it in the air and catch it as she stared at Hinata in disinterest. "Relax; I knew you were going to dodge it. Geez, I was just having a little fun; stop being a pussy."

"To answer your previous question," _Muzai _shifted uncomfortably; flicking the knife a little harder than necessary, "Notice anything different about me?" She mockingly did a small twirl letting her long blue hair fly out around her.

Hinata cautiously took a couple steps back though she curiously gave her a once over. She paused and froze when she reached _Muzai's_ neck. A small leather choker was wrapped snugly around her neck with Naruto's symbol shining brightly whenever she moved.

Lavender eyes widened in angered disbelief; her hands flying up to her own neck. Her hands began to shake when she felt the smoothness of the small leather choker. They moved on their own accord, feeling the cool metal and the engraved symbol of the _Kyuubi. _

"A leash?" she asked, somewhat hysterically, "I'm on a leash? When did that happen? _How _did that happen?"

_Muzai _smirked humorlessly. "It's pretty isn't it? I can't wait to see what happens when _Shukaku-sama _finds out." She sighed dreamily, "I _could _tell you what happened, but I think it's more fun to watch you panic and run around like a chicken with its head cut off."

"Damn it, _Muzai!" _Hinata shouted angrily. She jumped up and made her way to her slightly taller companion until they were mere inches apart. "This isn't just about us or even Gaara," she stated quietly, ignoring _Muzai's _scowl at her casual use of her boyfriend's name. "Naruto can track me _anywhere. _Do you know what that means?"

_Muzai _pushed Hinata back hard enough to slide a few feet. "Of course I fucking know what it means!" she shouted angrily, pulling on the choker, although it didn't budge. "But unlike _you," _she spat with distaste, "I will do _anything _to protect what's mine."

With that statement, _Muzai _turned away from her companion and began walking deeper into the forest leaving Hinata staring at the empty space. She leaned against the tree once more and slid down into her previous position.

Hinata sighed and ran her slender hand roughly through her hair. She simply just wanted to throw her hands up in defeat. She didn't know what to do anymore! Everything was simply spiraling out of control. She and Gaara's relationship were starting to feel some pressure, Naruto and Sasuke's suspicion of her true status; she now had an unbreakable leash around her neck, she seemed to be currently trapped inside her mind, and _Muzai _was hiding something big from her.

Could anything get any worse? She really should have just kept her mouth shut.

* * *

Ino crossed her arms angrily, ignoring the leering looks she was receiving due to her outfit: a simple blue sports bra and black biker shorts. Sakura, sporting a bright pink sports and white yoga pants, was standing next to her somewhat bored and amused as the female teenaged clerk shrank back in fear.

"You still haven't given me a reason as to why we can't have a room," the blue-eyed beauty stated flatly. "You _just _told us five minutes ago that you have three empty rooms to spar in and now you're saying we can't go in. What the hell?"

"I'm sorry, -."

"My beautiful, Ino-chan!" A loud but deep voice sounded through the hallway. Both girls turned to see Lee sprinting down the hallway, making his way towards them. He gave them a blinding smile when he stepped behind the desk. Sakura gave him a polite smile while Ino narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

Many people probably would have dropped their jaws in disbelief if they knew, but Ino was really close friends with Lee and she could tell when he was hiding something from her. "What's up?" the blonde asked, making Lee drop his smile a fraction before it returned full force.

"What makes you think something is up?" Lee laughed boomingly and gave Sakura an obvious wink. Sakura flinched slightly; she thought Lee was a really nice person, but he simply wasn't her type.

Ino crossed her arms and stared at Lee with disapproval. "Out with it, Lee-kun. What's going on? Your, obviously new, assistant told us there were three empty rooms to spar and five minutes later says we can't go in at all. Nobody has come in nor out through that hallway, so what's the deal?"

Lee gave an unusual frown and blinked his round eyes slowly. "Ino-chan," he stated somewhat seriously, causing Sakura to blink in surprise (since when has Lee been anything but annoyingly chipper) and Ino to uncross her arms slowly.

He smiled sheepishly. "You're right; this is -," he blinked in surprise at the empty space behind him and sighed. "You scared her, didn't you?"

Ino chuckled slightly and shrugged. "It's not my fault girls find me intimidating."

"Anyway, you're right. That was Megumi-san and I just hired her. She knew that three rooms were open, but she didn't know that they are currently being revamped until I told her."

Ino sighed dramatically. "Well, why didn't she say that in the first place instead of whining and stuttering like a little bi-."

"You promised," Sakura interrupted as she jabbed her elbow in her best friend's stomach. "Tone down the bluntness."

Ino glared at her mockingly as she rubbed her stomach to soothe the sting. "I'm sorry! Geez, this toning down shit is going to be a lot harder than I thought," she muttered.

She looked up at Lee with big blue eyes. "So are all of rooms full?" she asked sweetly, tilting her head to the side and letting her long blonde hair to fall over her shoulder.

The young man leaned forward with a rare smirk on his face. He opened his mouth to respond but froze when he felt a small tremor throughout the building.

Sakura, who was watching the whole scene with something akin to amazement, paused when she felt the small tremble. She and Ino turned toward the still statued young trainer.

"Lee-kun," Ino began, "What was that?"

Lee blinked a couple times before looking straight into Ino's eyes. "Nothing," he stated lowly, "I told you that those rooms were getting revamped; it comes with a few tremors. Look, it's kind of full today, my beautiful Ino-chan. You and Sakura-chan should come back some other time, ne?"

He placed his hand on her shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. "I'll call you later, okay?" Ino nodded her head and turned to her friend, only to find her missing.

"Damn it," she muttered and began to make her way down the hallway, never noticing that Lee had disappeared also.

* * *

_This day just keeps getting weirder and weirder, _though Sakura as she slowly made her towards the end of the hallway. She knew she probably shouldn't be back here, but her curiosity got the best of her.

Everyone was acting…out of the norm and that conversation between Ino and Lee caused her head to spin. How much didn't she know about her best friend? She didn't Ino was even friends with Lee! And Lee, who was always flirting with her, barely noticed her existence. His seriousness and explanation of the tremors made her suspicious.

She paused in front of a closed door. Maybe she shouldn't be doing this; after all, she wasn't even allowed back here. Another tremble traveled through her body, strengthening her resolve.

Taking a deep breath, she pushed open the door. Smoke assaulted her senses, causing her to rub her eyes roughly and to cough intensely. When the smoke cleared, her emerald eyes widened immensely at the sight before her.

"Oh my god," she whispered before her world went dark.

* * *

A/N So let me know what you guys think…pretty please =)

For those who have read, reviewed, and alerted to me or my works…Thank you so much, I truly, _truly _appreciate it.

Until next time,

Tw33ty JR.


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

AN/ Special Thanks to _**Ano, kurenai cakes, Refrigerator-Burn, Wannabe-Temari, AmaiNeiko, TheLoverOfMusic, Nerd4ever243, Gray-Alistair, Seraphina Dragon, and Kiss-it-Kiss-it **_for reviewing…I truly appreciate it!

Wow! It's been a while…much longer than I thought, but it's been a busy year. This isn't my best chapter, but I felt that I needed to get something up so that I can move forward with the plot. So don't hold back and let me know what you guys think.

Questions/

_Ino and Sakura…_I know they seem insignificant at the moment, but they play an important part in the story.

_Everyone still have their powers without being ninja. Care to explain that? _Hehe, this is not your typical gang story. No, they are not ninjas (AU), but they still have retained their…gifts, though they have to keep them secret…but as you can see, some people like to act recklessly.

_Is Muzai a split personality? _She didn't begin that way…As for her appearances, look for subtle changes in behavior throughout the story (posture, voice change, even thoughts). Gaara calls her Muzai, because that is her gang name, her nickname, and her…other all wrapped in one…if that makes any sense.

_Who is Kyoui? _Kyoui is what Shukaku calls Murasaki

* * *

Naruto groaned slightly as he blearily tried to figure out where he was. He ran his head roughly through his blond locks. It felt as if he had been run over by a truck…and then the truck backed up on him and then proceeded to run over him again. What happened?

His musings were interrupted by a noise to his left. Blue eyes shifted over to see a familiar sight; although he wasn't too thrilled about it. Naruto narrowed his eyes in irritation as he finally figured where he was.

"What did you do now, you stupid bastard?" Naruto grumbled. "Why am I down here?"

A huge red slit eye slid open to stare at him. While most people would tremble in fear, Naruto simply looked into it with boredom and annoyance.

"_**So you're finally awake,"**_the being stated in dark amusement, _**"A shame really; I wanted to stay out and…play a little longer."**_

Naruto's face remained clear of whatever he was currently feeling, but on the inside he couldn't help but feel slightly confused and panicked on the inside. What was _Kyuubi _talking about? For the life of him, he could not remember anything past driving to the dojo and walking in on the end of Gaara and Hinata's fight.

Blue eyes widened. "That can't be…" he murmured.

"_**Oh," **__Kyuubi _tilted his large head mockingly. _**"Are you trying to figure out with that simpleton brain of yours how I got out? It's quite simple really," **__Kyuubi _bared his razor sharp teeth in a terrifying grin. _**"You're the one that let me out."**_

The blond gang leader reeled his head back as if physically struck.

* * *

Gaara slowly blinked a few times as he slowly became aware of his surroundings. Ignoring all the rubble and debris around him, he began to search for the one person he was looking for. He slowly rose to his feet, wincing as he irritated a bruise on his ribs.

The red-head finally found what he was looking for. Hinata was still unconscious, though thankfully for the most part, she was pretty much unscathed. He slowly made his way towards her and when he reached her, picked her up as gently he could.

Besides a small grimace of pain, the bluenette remained in blissful darkness. Another look around the room caused flashes of the fight between _Shukaku _and _Kyuubi _to run through his mind. He still couldn't recall what actually _caused _his demon to pull him into his mindscape in the first place.

His eyes flashed briefly when he landed on Sasuke's battered and unconscious form. For some reason, he _really_ wanted to kill the bastard, slowly and painfully. Gaara shook his red locks quickly before making his way towards the exit.

_You have some explaining to do, Shukaku._

He paused when a figure blocked his only exit. Gaara tensed at the sight, knowing that he physically couldn't handle another fight. He breathed a sigh of relief when the figure made himself known.

"_Chisoka_," Gaara murmured.

"_Shukaku-sama," _Lee responded, bowing his head in acknowledgment.

* * *

"What the fuck happened?" Naruto roared at _Kyuubi_, who merely opened his massive jaw and yawned as a response. Naruto grit his teeth in fury when the demon simply ignored him.

"I didn't let you out," Naruto stated, seemingly more to convince himself. "Why would I let you out when I wanted to fight Gaara myself?"

"_**You don't even know what happened do you?" **_The ground rumbled and quaked with _Kyuubi's _dark laughter. _**"You've been having a lot of blackouts lately, my little host; not that I'm complaining. That just means more fun for me."**_

Naruto slid down in a sitting position, next to a cage that was holding the malevolent beast. "What's going on?" he whispered as he looked at his hands.

"_**You let me out because you **_**wanted **_**to let me out," **_Sharp teeth glimmered in the darkness. _**"Subconsciously, you realize that I'm the only one that can get her…that I'm the only one that can **_**keep **_**her.**_

"Get who? What the hell are you talking about?"

_Kyuubi_ snarled in irritation and slammed his body against his prison. Satisfied when he heard a few cracks, he turned his blood red eyes towards his host to see his reaction.

"Shit." Naruto ran his hands roughly through his hair, pulling it slightly. _I need to speak to Jaraiya._ "Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit."

"_**The seal is weakening and as much as I despise this weak body of yours," **_he chuckled, _**"it's better than nothing." **_Another terrifying smile. _**"The more I come out, the less you remember. The more I'm in control, the more control you lose."**_

Naruto closed his eyes. "Why now?"

The fox merely blinked in response to the question.

"You've been in here for eighteen years and yet you've never been this desperate to get out." The blond paused when he didn't get a reaction, not even a snort of amusement; that meant he was on to something. "You've always tried to influence and manipulate me but we eventually came to a truce. I would let you out every once in a while and you wouldn't try to take over my body and cause massive destruction. You broke your word!" Naruto shouted angrily.

He jumped back very quickly preventing himself from meeting a swift death by enormous claws. The next second, he was covering his ears as a furious roar rang throughout the mindscape. The killing intent came next.

The blond froze for a split second before meeting the blood red eyes of the one he contained.

"_**If I could, I would rip you to shreds for your insolence! You dare call ME a liar? I am a demon that honors their word!" **__Kyuubi _bared his teeth in anger. _**"The agreement was that I would only come out when you allowed it -."**_

"Exactly! I have not -."

"_**Silence!" **_the demonroared. Naruto closed his mouth with a click. Outwardly he showed no signs of fear but on the inside, he was shaking. He clenched his fists to show his anger, but also to hide his shaking. He hadn't felt this afraid since the first few months he found out that he was jinchuriki. _**"It was never specified on **_**how **_**I was allowed out."**_

The blond furrowed his brows in confusion.

"_**I want her and coincidentally, consciously or unconsciously, **_**you **_**want her too. Therefore, I will be the one to obtain her and I am going to use your body to do it.**_

"What the _fuck _are you talking about?" Naruto screamed in frustration. "What is this about a girl? What girl are you talking about? You're completely changing the fucking subject!"

_Kyuubi_ snorted as his red eyes narrowed in irritation. _**"Let me put this in words that even an insignificant fool like you can understand. I want Shukaku's bitch, but the only way that I can retrieve her is through your useless body." **_A large tail slammed against the bars of the cage causing the ground to tremble; henceforth shutting Naruto up before he could open his mouth to argue.

"_**Whether consciously or unconsciously, either way I truly could not care less," **_a malicious grin formed and made the blond unconsciously take a step back, _**"you want her too. And that makes it so much easier for me."**_

"You want Hinata?" he whispered. Too many thoughts were running through his head. The _Kyuubi _had _never_ been interested in humans…always berating them and complaining how useless they were, so why was Hinata so special? He was brought out of his musings by a dark chuckle, not realizing that he had voiced his question out loud.

"_**Because, my little host, she was mine from the very beginning."**_

* * *

Gaara stared indifferently at the girl in Lee's arms. He curled his lip into a small sneer before speaking. "How much did she see before you knocked her out?"

Lee shrugged, holding the girl as if she weighed nothing. "I don't believe she's seen much, Gaara-kun, probably just the damage between you and my leader."

"Are you sure?" Sharp aqua eyes gazed intensely into Lee's. "I'm already in enough shit. I don't need some bitch putting her nose where it doesn't belong."

Lee tightened his hold at the statement but nodded his head nonetheless. Gaara closed his eyes as he released a weary sigh. He walked around Lee and made his way out the door. He paused before he reached the end of the hallway. "Tell your…leader to meet me tomorrow at the park after school. There are some things that need to be discussed. Oh, and you should stop by more often. I'm sure Murasaki would be delighted to see you."

Lee opened his mouth to protest but was interrupted. "There's no need to worry about suspicion," Gaara smirked. "You are my tracker after all."

* * *

Sasuke woke up with a groan…and immediately wanted to be put back into a state of unconsciousness. Every twitch, every blink, every breath, every _thought _felt like someone was striking him repeatedly with an iron hot hammer. It simply hurt. If trying to stay still hurt like a bitch; he didn't want to find out the feeling of actually _moving._

_What the hell happened?_

He and Naruto had arrived the dojo to have a friendly match when they had found Lee manning the front desk. Naruto had asked for a status report and Lee (being Gaara's tracker) had informed them of the former gang leader's whereabouts. What a nice coincidence.

He remembered walking in on _Shukaku _and his _nagaremono_ making out. A few exchanging of words and the next thing he knows _Shukaku _and _Kyuubi _are trying to rip each other apart. After that…

If Sasuke could have smirked, he would have. He mentally laughed without humor before sobering his thoughts. _I should be dead right now. _If what happened had truly happened…the pale _seinn_ snorted softly, _that's probably why I feel like absolute shit right now. Kyuubi _must have been preventing _Shukaku _from coming to close after the initial hit.

Speaking of _Kyuubi…_Sasuke stopped himself before he could finish that thought. He didn't even want to find out how far he had dug his grave this time; metaphorically and physically.

Mentally preparing for excruciating pain, Sasuke took a deep breath and rolled over. He couldn't prevent a sharp yelp from spilling from his lips. He hacked a small bit before turning to the side and spitting out a decent amount of blood and saliva from his throat.

_I need to move. Come on, I need to fucking move!_

Sasuke hated being in a position where he didn't have a clue as to what was going on. He felt completely vulnerable considering he had no idea the whereabouts of Gaara or Naruto. He groaned once more as he tried to stand, but his body weight was currently too much for his legs to handle.

He landed on his back painfully and he, once again, wished that he had stayed unconscious. He stayed there for a moment, mentally counting his injuries. _Broken ribs, don't know how many; two broken fingers, right hand; sprained ankle, left; concussion; dislocated left shoulder; some internal injuries…_

Sasuke blinked as his thoughts were interrupted by a groan coming from across the room. He sighed in relief, (although he regretted it a half second later), when he began hearing the curses of his best friend.

A possibly pissed off Naruto was _much_ better than a really pissed off Gaara.

"Hey," the blond croaked before hissing in pain, "I know this is a stupid question…but are you going to school tomorrow?"

If Sasuke had the ability to punch the idiot, he would have. It would have been well worth the pain. "We almost died," he spoke lowly; shit! Talking hurts, "and you're asking me if I'm going to school tomorrow? I don't even have the fucking ability to roll over!"

* * *

Gaara sighed as he thought about his current predicament. He had his unconscious girlfriend in his arms and they had both arrived separately and on their motorcycles. He had tried to wake her up, but it was of no use. Something was going on and he needed to figure it out really soon before something worse happens.

He sighed once more; this time in frustration. The red head knew he had no choice, but that didn't mean that he had to like it.

Gaara leaned against a pillar and then set Hinata's feet on the ground causing her unconscious body to lean against him in a lover's embrace. To the outside world, they looked like any other lovey dovey couple. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. There was a small hesitation before he began to dial. The person picked up on the first ring.

"_What happened?"_

"There's been an incident. I need you to come get us right now."

"_What's going on, Gaara? What aren't you telling me?"_

"No questions," the former gang leader snapped roughly, "Just do as I say -."

"_Let's get one thing straight. You are NOT my leader and I am NOT your seinn, so don't fucking treat me like one! Treat me with the respect that I deserve or I will not hesitate to kick your ass."_

Gaara remained silent as he took the verbal lashing. The former gang leader knew that he deserved it considering his attitude lately. A small part of him felt guilty. "I apologize nee-chan -."

"_No," _Temari spoke, her voice coated with weariness and frustration,_ "I'm not done. You do not get to treat me like a porcelain doll when you and Hinata were the one that put me in this situation."_

Though his big sister couldn't see it, Gaara couldn't help but flinch at the blunt but true statement. He closed his eyes in slight remorse as he continued to listen.

"_I keep getting put in these situations and yet you won't tell me a damn thing. Something big is going to go down, Gaara. I can feel it. You need to tell me what is going on, so I can be prepared. The only person you need to be worrying about – you should be worrying about - is Murasaki._

"Fine," he replied, his voice lacking any emotions, "but not here. Something went down between me and _Kyuubi_ and Hinata is unconscious. All we have are the bikes, so I need you to come get us as fast as you can…please."

There was a pause on the line before Temari sighed. _"What have you gotten me into, Gaara?" _Another sigh. _"I'll be there soon. When we get home, you need to tell me _everything. _No more secrets."_

There was no chance to reply. The older sister had hung up the phone as soon as she said the last statement. He looked down at his _Muzai_ before sighing once more (he had been doing that a lot lately).

This was going to be a long night.

* * *

_**Meanwhile…**_

Hinata whined in slight distress as she continued to walk through the vast forest of her mindscape. She felt as if she had been walking in circles for hours. She ran a shaking hand roughly through her hair before leaning against a random large tree.

The bluenette closed her eyes before taking a deep breath. Taking in the fresh and moist air of the forest and the random calls of the animals, Hinata took another deep breath.

She knew where she was although she didn't know the reason why she got there. The problem was that she didn't know how to get out; weird, considering that it was _her _mind. The only… 'person' able to keep her here was _Muzai _and she seemed to have disappeared completely off her radar.

"_Muzai_!" Hinata called from her position. "Where are you?"

She waited for a few moments to listen for a response. The bluenette bit her lip in frustration. "If you don't want me here," she shouted, "then why are you keeping me here?"

Hinata wanted to continue to move but she knew she deemed it pointless. If _Muzai _didn't want to be found; she was _not_ going to be found. The young _seinn_ absently grabbed a chunk of her long hair and began to braid.

Well, while waiting she might as well speak what's on her mind. She knew that _Muzai _was listening.

"What's been going on with you, _Muzai_? You've been acting off…lately. More aggressive; more possessive…more secretive."

There was a small rustle of leaves a few feet behind her, but Hinata stayed where she was.

"Did I do something wrong…besides straying? You've been acting like a…well, like a bitch towards me, although I am quite confused. We are the same, we are -."

"Now, that is where you're wrong, Hime." The last word was whispered with contempt. The bluenette remained completely still as her double mockingly caressed her cheek. _Muzai _squatted down so they were face to face. She leaned in close until they were a few inches from each other.

Hinata purposely kept her breathing even at the close proximity. "Where am I wrong?" she whispered.

_Muzai _flashed her white teeth at the question, not moving an inch. "You're so pathetic," the woman responded in the same low tone, ignoring the question. "You have a powerful leader, a loyal gang, and a _precious_ daughter and yet all you are is an Ungrateful. Little. Bitch."

Hinata didn't even bat an eye at the insult. "Is that where I went wrong, _Muzai-_chan?" There was extra emphasis in 'chan'. "I am not being grateful?"

_Muzai _shook her head playfully, but remained close. "You are wrong when you claimed us to be the _same._" She spat the last word out as if it was a disease.

"How so?"

"Do you know what _Muzai _stands for, Hime?" the young woman asked her twin. "It's actually ironic. You see, I am everything that you are not. I am the complete opposite of you; therefore I am the complete opposite of innocence."

Hinata was about to respond, but her lips were quickly covered by _Muzai's. _The kiss didn't last long, though it did shut Hinata up pretty quick. Her pink lips stayed open in slight surprise when the kiss ended.

"You see, _Hime,_" _Muzai _stated with a sensual tone, "I am your lust, your anger, your rage, your _experience._" Her voice was becoming louder and louder and yet she still had not moved out of Hinata's personal space. "I am your murderer, your punching bag, your dirty little secret…and so much more. But you want to know the most important thing about me is? I am my own. Fucking. Person. And sooner or later, I am going to get my _freedom._"

_Muzai _roughly pushed herself up from her position and began walking away. "You would do well to remember this little heart-to-heart." She waved her hand carelessly causing Hinata to make a soundless gasp and clasp her chest. "Now get the fuck out of my sight."

With the last statement, Hinata took a deep rasping breath and her lavender eyes popped open in a panic. She could vaguely hear shouting in the background, but ignored it in an attempt to calm her rapid heartbeat.

"-nata! –inata! Hinata, calm down! You're going to pass out again at this rate if you don't calm down!"

"Temari-nee," Hinata croaked, recognizing the voice. She blinked rapidly trying to focus, but was failing horribly. A double set of light green eyes came across her vision before everything became black.

"Damn it," Temari murmured in slight frustration. She let out a shaky sigh of relief to find that her best friend had simply passed out in exhaustion. Her breathing was even and deep instead of harsh and panting as it was not even a few minutes ago.

She walked out of Gaara and Hinata's bedroom and made her down the stairs. She ignored the shiver that went up her spine as an image of Hinata flashed through her mind. Consciously or unconsciously, she had a really bad feeling that shit was about to hit the fan…and very soon.

Gaara looked up impassively as he watched his sister walk slowly into the living room. He gently caressed his daughter's back while she was sleeping soundly over his shoulder.

When Temari arrived, he had gently placed Hinata in the backseat next to his daughter, before climbing in the front seat. The ride home was filled with a tense and uncomfortable silence. When they reached the house, Murasaki had woken up and demanded to be held by her father. While he grabbed her, Temari handled Hinata.

"She woke up," Temari stated lowly, interrupting Gaara's thoughts.

He hummed in reply. "Did she say anything?"

The young blonde dropped on the couch on the opposite side of her little brother. She sighed and settled her head into her hand. "Only my name before she slipped back into unconsciousness. But she's actually sleeping now."

The former gang leader tilted his head in acknowledgement. There was a tense silence for a few minutes before Temari sighed again. "Gaara…Otouto, talk to me _please. _What the hell have you gotten yourself into?"

Gaara closed his eyes at her pleading tone. He shook his head slowly. "I can't. It's too -."

"Bullshit," Temari growled out, making sure to keep her voice low. "I already told you that you burned that bridge when you came here. I'm asking you again. What happened that you had to come out here and _look _for me?"

Temari wanted to scream in frustration when Gaara kept his mouth shut. If he wasn't holding Murasaki, she would have punched him across the face.

Just as she opened her mouth to curse him out, he spoke. "They know."

"What?"

Intense aquamarine stared into his sibling's eyes. "They know about Hinata…more specifically _Muzai_."

Temari's brow furrowed in confusion. "What do you mean they know about _Muzai_? Gaara, who -?"

"Akatsuki," he spat the word as if it was acid. "They found out about her and want her for themselves."

"Okay." Temari stood up the couch and began to pace. "Okay, so Akatsuki found out about _Muzai_ and you thought it would be a good idea to resign leadership and run away like a coward, right? Are you crazy? They're going to follow you! They're going to come right to us!"

She winced when the red-head grabbed her wrist tightly. She hadn't even seen him move. One moment he was sitting down and holding his sleeping daughter in his arms and the next moment, he was coldly gripping her wrist with bruising force. "You're hurting me."

Gaara released her quickly, but made no move to apologize. Temari resisted the urge to rub her wrist in front of him. "I did what I had to do to protect my family. If I had stayed where I was, Murasaki and I would have already been dead; Hinata, the leader's _nagaremono_ and _Shukaku _would have been captured." His aquamarine eyes flashed with cruel intent and he gave her a vicious grin. "It was a good thing you abandoned us so many years ago, _nee-chan, _or I would have had nowhere to hide my _Kyoui _when they do eventually find us."

Temari sucked in deep breath at the insult, but her facial expression remained the same. She knew he was lashing out for a comment earlier, but that didn't make it hurt any less. "You know why I had to leave, Gaara," she started lowly only to be interrupted by a slightly unstable chuckle. She tensed when she saw gold edges around her little brother's eyes.

The dirty blonde cautiously took a step back and raised her arms in a calming manner. Gaara sneered at the gesture showing a glint of one his sharp canines. "You think you were the only one that wanted to leave when we were under that bastard's rule?" he growled. "You think that you were the only one that wanted to run away? You were the one that left and we were the ones that stayed and you have the _nerve _to call me a fucking _coward_?"

"I had to leave!" she screamed angrily; her emotions too high to be aware of the sleeping child on the couch. "I was only twelve; do you know what he would have done to me if I stayed?"

She actually stumbled back when the red-head locked eyes with her. The gold rings around his eyes were gone, but so were his emotions. The only thing she saw was a cold abyss that she would surely fall into if she didn't look away.

"What would he have done?" Gaara asked quietly, his voice void of all emotions. He tilted his head in mock curiosity. "Would he have raped you? Would he have tortured you? Beaten you? Starved you? Enlighten me, Temari. What would he have done to you?"

Temari bit her lip and shook her head in denial. Her heart clenched in guilt at his implications. No, it couldn't be…the red head simply gave her a cold smirk. "You escaped when you were twelve. I was only eight." Gaara closed his eyes tightly and clenched and unclenched his fists as if trying to ward off a bad memory.

"Gaara -."

"No," he deadpanned. His voice along with his face displaying no emotions. "I don't want your apologies, I don't want your sympathies, and I especially don't want your pity. What has happened has happened and there is nothing that can be done about it."

"What happened…"

Gaara shrugged. "I killed him," he stated with indifference causing a slight chill to climb up her spine. "We seem to be getting off topic, Temari. I was telling you the reason why I'm here, not my background."

"Right," Temari agreed shakily. "Akatsuki wants _Muzai._"

"Not just them," Gaara murmured, "_Oto_ is searching for her also along with _Kumo._"

Luckily for the young woman, the couch was behind her. She collapsed onto it as her legs gave out from the news. "So…three major gangs are after Hinata and they are all going to be coming here once they figure out where she is."

Gaara nodded his head in confirmation.

The red-head's sister rubbed her head roughly as she was beginning to get a headache from her jumbled thoughts. _Three gangs are after Hinata. Does Hinata even know? I doubt it, considering the way she's been acting lately. Do they know Murasaki? This still doesn't explain why Gaara gave up his leadership to Shukaku and how he ended up here. I know he said that they would have already been dead if he had stayed, but wouldn't he be able to protect them there instead of being in foreign territory? I just can't seem to understand!_

"You're right," Gaara said as if he was reading her thoughts. "You don't understand. You left before you can get ingrained in the workings of the gang and now you don't have a damn clue of what's happening. This is why I didn't want to tell you what was going on."

"Then why?" Temari began, her voice cracking slightly at the implication her brother seemed to be portraying. "Why did you come here? Why did you find me?"

"I told you," he stated quietly. "I needed more time to come up with a plan and I needed a safe place to hide _Kyoui _when they finally do come."

Gaara closed his eyes in contemplation, his head tilting softly to side. Temari flinched when he reopened his eyes. A flicker of emotion crossed his aquamarine eyes, much too quick for her to comprehend, before he blanked out once more.

"I wanted to keep _Muzai _hidden, but it seems that idea was completely useless. So instead, _Kyuubi's _gang is going to help me."

"How?" Temari whispered. Her body slumped down as if all the energy was drained from her body. Her brother found her at a convenience. He was just using her to keep his daughter and his girlfriend hidden. Would he even care if she became collateral damage?

"It's quite simple really. I have something that he wants."

"_Muzai?"_

Gaara chuckled darkly at the question. "Actually, he wants Hinata." He smirked when all he received was a confused stare. "Since we're being truthful and all, I'll let you in on a little secret. She doesn't belong to me."

Temari's eyes widened as her stomach dropped. "You- you kidnapped -?"

"In all reality, Hinata belongs to _Kyuubi._"

* * *

Sasuke couldn't prevent a hiss from coming out his mouth when he was roughly yanked into a sitting position. He didn't bother to complain about the treatment considering he was on the shit list on most…all of the other _seinns. _He also didn't bother to thank him either.

"How are you guys holding up?" Lee asked in an unusually subdued manner. "That was quite a ruckus you created."

Naruto groaned childishly as Lee helped into a sitting position. "Man! That was the best fight I've had in years! The blood! The fear! The suspense!" He turned towards the bowl-cut teen and gave him a mischievous smirk. "I want to do it again."

"Such youth!" Lee cried with tears falling down his cheeks. Naruto snickered at the over dramatization while Sasuke rolled his eyes and gritted his teeth in annoyance.

Naruto sighed and Lee took it as a sign to get down to business. His face sobered up as he stared at his leader. "Do you mind me asking how you got the room into such a…youthful mess?"

"I wanted to play," the blond pouted with a malicious glint in his eyes. "He didn't want to play so we got into a little argument."

Lee nodded his head slowly. "Did anything else happen?"

"Well," Naruto drawled, "I may have had a hidden agenda."

The young _seinn _forced himself to remain relaxed as he felt his leader's eyes focused on his body movements. "May I ask what the hidden agenda was? I'm guessing it has to do with the way Sasuke-san looks right now."

Although Sasuke wanted to lash out at that remark; he did the smart thing and remained quiet.

Naruto pursed his lips in thought before he pinned Lee with his deep blue eyes. It was by sheer will power that his heart remained beating at a reasonable place. His mind began thinking furiously as to what Naruto may have done besides almost causing a dojo to explode.

"Did you cross paths with Sabaku on your way out?" Lee barely held back a sigh of relief when he didn't have the urge to say the first thing that came to his mind. He wouldn't lie, but it was good to know that Naruto still deemed him trustworthy.

"Yes, _Kyuubi-sama_."

Blue eyes sharpened at the answer. "Was Hinata conscious? Or was he carrying her?"

The martial artist furrowed his brows in confusion while Sasuke bit his lip to keep his mouth shut. "Why would that matter?" was the question that he wanted to ask, but he wisely answered his leader.

"She was unconscious, _Kyuubi-sama_."

"I was just wondering, Lee-kun, if you noticed anything on her?"

The young _seinn's _brain literally _paused _at the question. He hadn't seen anything on Hinata. He still didn't feel the need to say the first thing that came out of his mouth, but that would change real soon if he didn't speak.

What would be on Hinata that he should have noticed? It would be something that no one but _Kyuubi's _gang…His expression didn't change, but his heart involuntary skipped a beat.

"Yes, _Kyuubi-sama. _Her…leash."

Naruto smiled at the answer though his eyes remained sharp. "Considering I was knocked out cold, I didn't get a chance to look at it. Sasuke was the one that actually put it on her." The blond cocked his head to the side. "How did you apply the leash, Sasuke-chan?"

Sasuke remained silent with his eyes closed, but he couldn't help the licking of his lips as the memory played through his mind. So he was right after all; Naruto wasn't in control when he began to fight Gaara and apparently _Kyuubi _had blocked the memory of kissing the secret _seinn. _He swallowed painfully before speaking.

"What does it matter how I put the fucking leash on?" he asked quietly. "It's on her."

Naruto simply blinked. "Not answering the question and acting like a dick is making you even more suspicious, Sasuke-chan. Luckily, there's too much shit going on and I am in too much pain to bother with your punishment…though I'm starting to think that you're a masochist." He sighed and turned back to his other subordinate. "Did Sabaku say anything to you when he left?"

Lee nodded his head slowly; his wide eyes staring absently in Sasuke's direction. "He asked you to meet him at the park after school. Are you even going to school tomorrow?"

Naruto grunted as he tried…and failed to move his arm. "I'm still on the fence about that." He sighed. "Alright, message received. I'll meet him after school. Call Tsunade and tell her to get her ass down here and come heal us."

Lee bowed his head and began to make his way out of the destroyed room. He paused before leaving completely. "There is something else."

"Oh?"

"The beautiful blossoms, Sakura-chan and Ino-chan, had arrived at the dojo and they might have heard the commotion going on."

If it was even possible, Naruto's ice blue eyes sharpened even more. "And? What happened?"

"Well, Sakura-chan may have seen the end results of the fight."

"Oh no," the leader claimed; his eyes wide and his tone concerned. To anyone else, he would have sounded sincere. "Well, we can't have that, can we?"

Lee bit the inside of his cheek and shook his head slowly. He swallowed, "May I ask what you plan to do, _Kyuubi-sama_?"

Naruto chuckled lowly. "Nothing for you to be worried about."

* * *

AN/ Please let me know what you think. It not only helps me be a better writer, but it's also nice to hear your thoughts on how the story is going. Like it, hate it, or just don't understand it; let me know.

For those who have read, reviewed, and alerted to me or my stories…just wanted to say thank you very much!

Until next time,

Tw33ty JR.


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